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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29317311">Awake Within a Dream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursdays_Angel/pseuds/Thursdays_Angel'>Thursdays_Angel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftermath of Torture, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Angst, Family Feels, Gen, Good Odin (Marvel), Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki (Marvel)-centric, Mind Control, Not Thor: The Dark World Compliant, Post-Avengers (2012), Protective Frigga (Marvel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:33:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>43,978</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29317311</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursdays_Angel/pseuds/Thursdays_Angel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Loki had believed the invasion and subsequent battle on Midgard to have been nothing more than an illusion?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Frigga | Freyja &amp; Loki (Marvel), Frigga | Freyja/Odin (Marvel), Loki &amp; Avengers Team, Loki &amp; Odin (Marvel), Loki &amp; Thor, Loki &amp; Thor (Marvel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>110</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>307</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story, like all of my others of late, has taken turns I wasn’t planning and has ended up longer than I’d planned. It was only supposed to be a single chapter but certain scenes began to spiral out of control so I decided to break it up. This fic is, I'd say, 90% complete. I should have part two up tomorrow and hopefully the rest of it the day after that. Certain characters who weren’t supposed to make an appearance do (looking at you Tony). I do have a bit of a head-cannon in regards to Loki and the Infinity Stones. If anyone has read my Pieces series you probably know where I’m going with this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>
      <span class="u">Awake Within a Dream</span>
    </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>One</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>            Thor was at a loss. He did not know what to make of his brother’s actions or his attitude after the fact. Loki acted as though what he did to Midgard, the lives lost to the, thankfully, failed invasion meant nothing. The whole affair unnerved Thor to no end. Loki had even mocked Thor’s new friends and he felt some satisfaction, though more guilt, when he’d slapped the muzzle over Loki’s mouth.</p><p>            Thor wanted to know <em>why</em>. He wanted to know what could have changed his bother so. Yet a part of him, one he hated to acknowledge, felt this was the true Loki. His brother had been jealous of him; look at what had happened only a year prior with the coronation and Jötunheim. Thor hadn’t wanted to believe it and hated to admit it but… Sif had been right all along.</p><p>            After bidding farewell to the Midgardians, Thor and Loki used the Tesseract’s power to return to Asgard. The ride did not feel entirely like using Bifröst but it was much smoother than the way his father and Heimdall had used to send him to Midgard.</p><p>            Once upon the broken Rainbow Bridge, Loki let go of the container. He had stiffened upon seeing their surroundings, though thankfully he made no move to leap over the side. Thor still suffered nightmares of that day. He wished he could have kept Loki from letting go.</p><p>            “Come,” he said, placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder and leading him down the bridge. Loki stiffened further under his touch but didn’t try to shrug it off.</p><p>            Einherjar waited for them at the end of the bridge, more shackles in hand. “The Allfather wishes to see the prisoner immediately,” the Captain of the Guard said.</p><p>            Thor sighed internally. He had hoped for a few moments in which to speak to Loki before he had to face judgment. Thor eyed the shackles. “Are those necessary?”</p><p>            “Orders of the king, my prince.”</p><p>            Thor stepped aside to allow the Einherjar to place more shackles on Loki, his brother simply watched with an almost empty gaze. Long chains led away from the binding around Loki’s waist, the ends of which two more guards held. Thor wanted to protest, they had Loki bound as though he were some sort of animal. <em>My brother is no animal!</em> Thor fumed.</p><p>            Before they continued on their way, Thor reached over to release the catch on the muzzle. It opened and Thor removed it. Loki worked his jaw then hummed. “This is new,” he commented.</p><p>            Thor frowned, not sure what to make of the statement. “Please don’t do anything to anger father further,” he pled. Loki scoffed but said nothing more. He was led, in chains, by the Einjerjar to the palace. Thor’s heart and mind railed against the sight.</p><p>            As they walked down the hallway leading to the throne room, or in Loki’s case sauntered, the Captain of the Guard stopped Thor. “The king requests you remain out here.”</p><p>            Rage surged through Thor. His father was going to deny him! How dare he? After everything Thor had done to bring Loki home! Thor turned to his brother but paused. The look Loki was giving him sent a shiver down Thor’s spine. There was an emptiness in his blue eyes… Wait, blue? A chill ran up his spine. Why were Loki’s eyes…</p><p>            Thor didn’t have a chance to ask. The Einherjar led Loki into the throne room, leaving Thor standing there feeling more confused than before.</p><p>* * *</p><p>            The “Einherjar” led Loki through the throne room where “Odin” sat upon Hliðskjálf, glaring down at him with his single eye. Loki kept a smirk on his face, the chains leading from his wrists to his ankles clinking together as he walked. He was not going to allow Maw or the Other to break him again. This was the longest they had let a scenario play out though. Honesty, Loki was surprised they hadn’t broken the illusion by now. Loki’s purposeful loss this time around should have angered them greatly. He couldn’t help but wonder what their game was now.</p><p>            In his peripheral vision, he spotted his mother. No, not his mother, only the illusion of the woman he wished beyond all measure truly was his mother. Even knowing it was an illusion, Loki’s chest tightened upon seeing her. <em>It’s not really her,</em> he reminded himself.</p><p>            Smirk still firmly in place; he stopped before the fake Frigga when she said his name. “Hello mother,” he said continuing to play his part and turning to face her. “Have I made you proud?” Was it Maw or the Other wearing her visage?</p><p>            “Please,” she begged, “don’t make this worse.”</p><p>            “Define worse.”</p><p>            “Enough!” Well, they had finally gotten Odin’s tone right. “I will speak to the prisoner alone.”</p><p>            A look of displeasure crossed Frigga’s face before she quit the room. Loki took a few steps closer to the throne and clicked his heels together like a good little soldier. He couldn’t keep himself from laughing though. Truly <em>his</em> children were taking this charade too far.</p><p>            “I really don’t see what all the fuss is about.” They would only repeat the “mission” again. He hadn’t understood the point, it wouldn’t change anything. He couldn’t tell him of things he didn’t know. Perhaps they were afraid he’d run if given the chance. Who was he kidding? The <em>moment</em> they sent him to Midgard for real he was running as fast and far as he could. He’d even return to Asgard if need be. The Realm may hate him but better the enemy you knew…</p><p>            “Do you truly not feel the gravity of your crimes?” fake Odin asked.</p><p>            <em>What crimes?</em> Loki wondered. <em>You mean refusing to lose myself completely?</em></p><p>            “Wherever you go there is war, ruin and death,” continued Odin.</p><p>            “I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god,” Loki replied smoothly. It would have been his right. He was born to be a king. <em>Is that what I want? I do want to be king, don’t I?</em> “Just like you.”</p><p>            He knew <em>exactly</em> what <em>he</em> and <em>his children</em> did to worlds so, perhaps not just like them.</p><p>            “We are not gods—”</p><p>            <em>No, you’re right, you aren’t.</em></p><p>            “—we are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do.”</p><p>            Loki shrugged. How long did Maw and whatever the Other was live? Longer than they should have at any rate. “Give or take five thousand years,” he replied flippantly. <em>He</em> had certainly lived far longer than he should have.</p><p>            “All this because Loki desires a throne,” Odin, no the<em> Other</em> mocked.</p><p>            Rage burned through him. “It is my birthright!” Yes, he did want to be king. To be king was something he had coveted for so long, to have been denied…</p><p>            <em>I never wanted a throne. I only ever wanted to be your equal.</em></p><p>            <em>Damn them,</em> Loki thought. It was so difficult to parse out which memories and desires were real and which ones had been implanted by means of the Scepter.</p><p>            “Your birthright was to die!” fake Odin bellowed, breaking into his thoughts. “As a child, cast out onto a frozen rock.”</p><p>            Again Loki’s chest tightened. That… He had worked so hard to keep <em>that</em> knowledge to himself. He shouldn’t have been surprised they found out though given how many times they had torn through his mind. How would they use that knowledge against him? It was only a matter of time before they did so. Would they force him into <em>that</em> form? The very thought sickened him.</p><p>            “If I had not taken you in,” fake Odin continued, drawing Loki’s focus back to the present, “you would not be here now to hate me.”</p><p>            “If I’m for the axe,” Loki said, stepping closer, “then for mercy’s sake just… swing it.” It would be better than this. Oh how he wished the Void had ended him. “It’s not that I don’t love our little talks,” he said to the Other, “it’s just… I don’t love them.”</p><p>            “Frigga—”</p><p>            <em>How dare they say her name!</em></p><p>            “—is the only reason you’re still alive and you will never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeon.”</p><p>            He knew he would never truly see his mother again but to have it spoken aloud… he stumbled a bit as the Einherjar pulled him back. A question formed on the tip of his tongue. He might as well rub more salt into the wound and see what their answer would be.</p><p>            “And what of Thor? You’ll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?” Perhaps he’ll be the means of Loki’s death, the illusion of him at least.</p><p>            “Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the Nine Realms and then, yes,” one of the guards grabbed Loki by the shoulders, “he will be king.”</p><p>            They stared at one another in silence for a moment. Loki realized the illusion of Odin was older than Loki remembered. It was only further proof of the mind games his tormentors were so fond of playing. As he was led away he couldn’t help but wonder what the purpose of continuing this scenario was and when it was all going to end.</p><p>            The fake Einherjar led him to the dungeon and to what would be his cell. Loki was a bit disconcerted by how much knowledge of Glaðsheimr they had taken from his mind. He may have been abandoned by Asgard but he couldn’t bring himself to want any serious harm to come to the Realm. The people, the common citizens did not deserve that.</p><p>            Loki glanced around his brightly lit yet barren cell, rubbing his wrists where the shackles had begun to chafe the skin. He replayed his encounter with the fake Odin over again while the guards removed the chains. What had the Black Order hoped to accomplish? No matter how many times they “sent” him for the Tesseract it never changed the knowledge he didn’t have. His father had sent the Tesseract to Midgard long before either he or Thor were born and the Aether had been lost when his father was still but a babe. How did they expect Loki to know its location when Bor had hidden it away long ago?</p><p>            Casting a glamour through the cell to show him simply standing there, for all the good it would do, he moved to sit with his back against the wall. Now that he was able to focus on the aches and pains, he let out a soft groan as he finally sat. He dropped the glamour around himself and he saw the blood and tears in his armor. He hissed as he removed his armor so he could see the full extent of his injuries. The beast would have been Cull Obsidian. That particular member of the Black Order must have taken great pleasure in tossing Loki around as he did. The entirety of Loki’s body ached from the rough treatment. His malnutrition certainly didn’t help matters either.</p><p>            Loki’s eyes drooped and he fought not to give into his fatigue. He needed to remain alert for whatever new situation Maw and the Other were planning. He was not given the choice as his body finally succumbed to the sleep it so desperately needed.</p><p>* * *</p><p>            The next several days consisted of Loki trying to work out where this scenario was leading and trying to determine the motives of his captors. Already this particular scenario had gone on beyond anything he could have anticipated. After only the first few hours of his incarceration, furniture and books had been delivered to him along with a note. It was simple, reading: <em>Remain strong dearheart.</em></p><p>            The writing was in Frigga’s elegant script. Not hard to duplicate considering they would have simply torn the information from his mind.</p><p>            The line below that was the only reason he hadn’t torn the note to shreds. His weakness prevented it.</p><p>            <em>I love you.</em></p><p>            Damn them. Damn Ebony Maw. Damn the Other and damn <em>him</em>! He hated that he still wished for someone to visit him beyond the guards who brought his meals. He hated that he still coveted the love of a family which had tossed him into the Void in the first place. He truly was pathetic.</p><p>            Loki barely touched those meals, especially knowing they were not what they seemed. He had grown so used to his hunger pains that they felt as though they had always been there. Loki could no longer remember a time he hadn’t felt hunger. He ate and drank what little he needed to survive but didn’t trust at all the “food” they sent. The only good thing about the illusion was he didn’t know what filth he was actually being served. At least his seiðr remained strong enough to destroy any pathogens in his system.</p><p>            Loki watched the illusion of himself sitting on the chaise lounge that had been brought to him. He trusted nothing and so remained seated along the back wall. Using his seiðr in this way only drained his energy further but he had no choice.</p><p>            Loki had quickly lost track of time. How long had he been in this particular cell? It had only seemed to be a few days, given the meal schedule, but the Other’s manipulation of his mind could make it seem that way. Had it only been a few days or had years passed? Where upon <em>Sanctuary</em> was he really? He knew his physical body was here but that everything around him was a trick of the eye. As much as he hated to admit it, he would rather see the barren rock of his real cell and not this mockery of his home.</p><p>            <em>They threw you away,</em> the Other’s voice whispered.</p><p>            <em>Tossed you into the abyss and into father’s loving embrace,</em> Maw added.</p><p>            “<em>He</em> is not my father,” Loki growled.</p><p>            Whether or not they heard him was irrelevant. It was a truth he clung to vehemently. If he knew nothing else, he knew that. He would continue to fight, pathetic though the action was, for nothing more than to deny them. Loki knew he would lose in the end but he wasn’t about to make it easy for them.</p><p>* * *</p><p>            Frigga paced her chambers. It had only been a few short days since Loki was brought home then locked away in the dungeon. She was furious with her husband and also angry at her eldest. Thor refused to speak of what had transpired on Midgard and had simply said “they” had been right. She didn’t know for certain who “they” were but she had a sinking suspicion she knew.</p><p>            Unable to stand it any longer, she swept from her chambers and nearly ran headlong into Odin. Her husband appeared weary and for some reason that only angered her further. “I’m going to see him,” she declared.</p><p>            Odin sighed, “Frigga—”</p><p>            “No, he is my son, <em>our</em> son, and you will not deny me this. What were you thinking? Imprisoning him for the rest of his days with no questions as to why or where he has been for the past year. You never gave him the chance to explain himself.”</p><p>            “What choice did I have?” Odin asked. “This pains me just as much as it does you Frigga but I cannot be seen to play favorites.”</p><p>            “Really? Thor starts a war with Jötunheim and receives what is little more than a slap on the wrist and you sentence Loki to a lifetime of solitude. Favorites indeed.”</p><p>            “Frigga—”</p><p>            “No,” Frigga held up a hand. “I will not hear of it and you will not keep me from my son.”</p><p>            “I had to punish Loki as his king, not his father.”</p><p>            Frigga bristled, hating the truth of that statement. She forced her voice to remain calm. “We cannot abandon him Odin. What happened… it was our fault for keeping such important knowledge from him. All that happened was due to our mistakes. Loki should not hold all of the blame when we are responsible as well.” She took a few more calming breaths. “I refuse to believe Loki’s actions on Midgard were because he desired a throne. There is more going on here, I know it. I need to see him.”</p><p>            Odin turned his gaze away. “He let go Frigga.”</p><p>            “Because we failed him,” she cried. “We failed to see what should have been plain to us. He is hurting and while it does not excuse his actions it may help explain them.”</p><p>            “Have you spoken with Thor?”</p><p>            Frigga let out a huff of frustration. “He will not speak of what happened.”</p><p>            “He has not told me anything either. I believe Thor and Loki are both hiding something.”</p><p>            “Then you speak with Thor.” Frigga swept past Odin, “I am going down to speak with my son.”</p><p>            The journey down into the dungeons seemed to take a lifetime even though it was only a few minutes. Frigga kept herself to the shadows at first, wanting to observe Loki. He wandered around his cell… She frowned, it was not Loki who paced the cell. It was his simulacrum. His seiðr did not extend beyond the cell and she wondered what this was for and why, or what, he was hiding.</p><p>            Her frown deepened the more she watched and sensed. Loki’s seiðr felt sick and there was a darkness to it that felt unnatural. She thought many of her questions could be answered if she only knew what had happened during the year he’d been missing.</p><p>            Frigga stepped up to the cell, her movements drawing his attention. Loki watched her warily, his hands clasped behind his back. “So which one are you?” he asked.</p><p>            Frigga was confused by his question. “Dearheart?”</p><p>            “Don’t!” Loki snapped. “You don’t get to call me that.”</p><p>            Frigga’s heart broke just a little. She decided to try a different tactic. “Do you like the books I sent you?”</p><p>            Loki eyed her suspiciously. “What is your game? Why do you continue this?”</p><p>            She felt as though they were having two different conversations. “You know why your father impri—”</p><p>            Loki’s cool façade vanished. “He’s not my father!” he snapped.</p><p>            Frigga reared back from the venom in his voice. The amount of hatred in that single statement tore at her heart. How badly had they harmed their son that he would loathe them so? She fought to keep her own emotions in check and not begin to weep.</p><p>            “All right,” she said as calmly as she could. Frigga opened her mouth to say more but found her words escaped her. She knew not where to even begin with her questions. “What happened to you?” she found herself asking. “Why…” she stepped closer to the force shield. “Loki, why did you let go?”</p><p>            Loki looked away from her and she could see him fighting to regain his own calm. At that angle, she was able to see the color of his eyes and she let out a soft gasp. His eyes were the wrong color, the vibrant green she had always known were dulled to a grayish blue. It only strengthened her belief that something was wrong.</p><p>            Confusion colored Loki’s expression. “Let go?” he asked. “I didn’t let go,” he leaned towards her, a feral grin twisting his features. “You know as well as I, Thor tossed me into the abyss. You and yours have only been telling me this from the start. Even if I had thrown myself into the Void, it would have been obvious. I wanted to die.” He scoffed, straightening, “Yet the Norns wouldn’t even grant me that reprieve.”</p><p>            Frigga knew not what to make of his words. Thor hadn’t thrown Loki from Bifröst, both her husband and her son had told her Loki had let himself fall. What if they had lied to her? No, she refused to believe Thor would have ever done such a thing to his brother. Therefore the question became, why did Loki seem to believe it?</p><p>            “Whatever torture you plan to inflict now, do get on with it,” Loki said. “This,” he gestured at their surroundings, “is quite boring, all things considered.”</p><p>            Torture? What by the Nine was Loki talking about. “We are not about to torture you,” she said, aghast. Loki hummed and pointedly turned away from her. Frigga realized she would get nothing more from him. Her heart broke just a little bit more. “I will come back soon.”</p><p>            When Loki gave no response, Frigga sighed and left the cell. She hated to leave him locked within but given what little she had learned, which admittedly wasn’t much, Loki was safer locked away here than he was roaming about the Nine.</p><p>            <em>Whatever happened to you,</em> Frigga vowed, <em>I will learn it and I will do everything within my power to help you heal.</em></p><p>* * *</p><p>            Thor was <em>spectacularly </em>drunk. He stumbled along the palace corridors attempting to make his way back to his chambers. His slowly increasing headache was of no help to his sour mood. The night <em>had </em>started out pleasant but had quickly become rather unpleasant.</p><p>            He and his friends had gone out to enjoy a few drinks and trade stories of past adventures. Thor pointedly kept the topic from turning to recent events but had laughed alongside his companions easily enough. What had turned his good night into a bad one was when he turned to ask Loki’s opinion of a rather wild tale only to be reminded that his brother <em>wasn’t there. </em>Thor had become unpleasant company after that.</p><p>            Thor had left his friends and occupied a spot that the back of the pub, downing drink after drink as his mind swirled with thoughts he hated himself for. He hadn’t been able to save his brother and now Loki… Loki wasn’t Loki anymore and Thor had no idea what to make of the creature which had taken his place.</p><p>            He lost all track of time as he drank and drank, to the point he had forgotten what had put him in such a foul mood in the first place. Even though he was the Crown Prince of Asgard, the proprietor bid Thor to finally leave the establishment. Begrudgingly, Thor did and he’d stumbled his way back home.</p><p>            He only half paid attention as he moved through the palace. He entered the rooms he shared with his brother. The room was much brighter than it had any right to be so early in the morning. Loki must have stayed up through the night reading some new book he had gotten. Thor grumbled as he fell to lay upon the chaise. He probably should go into his own bedroom but the thought of doing so was exhausting.</p><p>            Thor fell into a deep sleep and he awoke after what he knew was no where near enough hours of sleep. He groaned as his head throbbed with his hangover. Maybe he could bribe Loki into making him one of those wonderful hangover teas for him.</p><p>            “Now this is an interesting turn.”</p><p>            Thor only groaned and groped around for a pillow or something to throw at his brother. Unfortunately there was nothing within easy reach. He wrapped his arms over his head. “Shut up,” he moaned, “and turn the light off.”</p><p>            Loki hummed, “Would that I could but I have no control over them.”</p><p>            What was Loki talking about? He… Thor shot up, his head throbbed at the action, and truly took in his surroundings. He wasn’t in common room shared between himself and Loki but inside Loki’s cell.</p><p>            Thor stumbled to his feet, his heart in his throat and… so were the limited contents of his stomach. Thor managed to keep from vomiting but just barely.</p><p>            Loki sat leaning against the back wall of his cell watching Thor. How had Thor ended up in the dungeon? He <em>swore</em> he had made his way to his rooms not… Spinning around to the front of the cell, he saw the force shield was still deactivated. How long had he been here? Why hadn’t Loki—</p><p>            “I’m not about to give you another reason to torture me,” Loki said. “I refuse to fall for your obvious trap.”</p><p>            Torture?</p><p>            “Yes, torture.”</p><p>            Oh, Thor must have said that aloud. “No one is going to torture you.” Why would Loki even think such a thing? He was a Prince of Asgard, disgraced though he may be, but that hadn’t changed.</p><p>            Loki scoffed, clearly unconvinced. “Tell your father, no matter how many times he sends me, I still don’t know where Odin hid the Tesseract or where Bor sent the Aether. All of our tales say it was destroyed.”</p><p>            Thor must be drunker than he thought. “You are making no sense brother.”</p><p>            “You’ve no right to call me that!” Loki snapped, rising to his feet. “You are no brother of mine and I will <em>never </em>be his child.” Calmer, Loki said, “You would be better off simply killing me. I don’t know which one you are and frankly I no longer care.”</p><p>            Thor sobered up quickly at Loki’s words. Though his expression remained blank, his eyes were filled with nothing but fear. Thor stared at his brother and a part of him wanted to pull Loki to him and offer comfort while another, saner, part knew he needed to leave. This wasn’t his brother anymore. Loki continued to make that point abundantly clear.</p><p>            Thor shook his head and slowly stepped backwards towards the cell’s entrance. He couldn’t risk turning his back to Loki. Surely it was what Loki was waiting for. Although if Loki was planning on making an escape then why hadn’t he tried when Thor had first stumbled in?</p><p>            Keeping his eyes on his brother, Thor saw the further away from Loki he moved, the more Loki seemed to relax.</p><p>            Thor knew he needed to leave, needed to reactivate the force shield but he paused his steps. Tension returned to Loki’s form when Thor stopped and something in Thor broke at the very <em>idea</em> that Loki was afraid of him. He wouldn’t, <em>couldn’t, </em>linger much longer.</p><p>            “Do you feel <em>any</em> remorse for your crimes?” Thor asked suddenly.</p><p>            Loki’s blank expression changed, one eyebrow rising to somehow taunt Thor. “What crimes would you be referring to?”</p><p>            “What you did on Midgard,” Thor snapped. “Do you feel nothing for the lives you have taken? For the destruction you have wrought?”</p><p>            To Thor’s surprise and horror, Loki burst out laughing. “Of course not. Why would I feel any remorse for something that never happened? You and I both know ‘Midgard’ was nothing more than another of <em>his </em>elaborate training sessions.” Loki’s laughter faded away. “Although I have to admit, I am curious as to why <em>he </em>has let this particular scenario play out as long as it has.”</p><p>            Thor was beyond stunned. Perhaps he <em>was</em> much drunker than he realized. “You… you think this is an illusion?”</p><p>            “Would you like to know where you messed up?” Loki asked instead.</p><p>            Unable to help himself, Thor asked, “Where?”</p><p>            “You—”</p><p>            “Thor!”</p><p>            Thor jumped at the sound of his father’s voice and spun to find both of his parents standing outside of the cell. “Father?”</p><p>             “Come out of there <em>now.</em>”</p><p>            Thor found himself scrambling to do as his father ordered, the shield reactivated as soon as he passed the threshold. Glancing back into the cell, he saw Loki was eyeing them all and not bothering one bit to hide his suspicion. “I was wondering when you were going to show yourself again,” Loki said, his gaze focusing on Odin. He cocked his head to the side. “Which one are you though? You are not the Other. Ebony Maw perhaps?” His eyes narrowed, “Yes that makes the most sense. Your master is giving you quite a bit of creative liberty with this scenario, isn’t he?”</p><p>            His father stepped closer to the cell, Gungnir gripped tightly in one hand. Something had flashed across his father’s expression at the names, which meant nothing to Thor. His father narrowed his own eye upon Loki and the tip of the spear began to glow faintly.</p><p>            Loki moved away, fear once again… <em>No,</em> Thor realized, <em>that isn’t simple fear. Loki is terrified.</em></p><p>            “Odin, stop!” Frigga cried as the light emanating from Gungnir flared to the point where they had to cover their eyes.</p><p>            Thor’s blood ran cold when Loki began screaming. In between his screams, Thor thought he heard Loki cry, “Get out of my head!”</p><p>            The light faded and Thor had to blink back the spots dancing before his eyes. The sound of a body hitting the ground had him focusing his attention back to Loki’s cell.</p><p>            He and his mother rushed forward when they saw Loki convulsing on the floor. The force shield was lowered before they even made it up the few steps. Thor found himself frozen when he got close enough to really see Loki. Frigga brushed past him, reaching to keep Loki from banging his head against the floor as he continued to seize.</p><p>            “Guard, fetch the healers <em>now</em>,” Odin barked as he pushed past Thor as well.</p><p>            “You told me the healers said he was unharmed,” Frigga’s accusatory tone accompanied the glare she gave her husband.</p><p>            “It’s what I was told,” his father replied, dropping to his knees as well in an effort to still Loki’s flailing limbs. “I was assured he suffered nothing more than a few scratches.”</p><p>            “Then what do you make of this?”</p><p>            <em>This</em> was Loki being thin as a rail and covered from head to toe in old wounds, dried blood and bruising of varying ages. Loki made a keening sound before his body finally stilled. His breaths came in short gasps and fresh blood trickled from his nose.</p><p>            Without giving it much thought, Thor rushed forward and scooped Loki up into his arms. The healers were taking far too long to reach the dungeon and it would be quicker for Thor to take Loki himself. He could hear his parents rushing to follow him.</p><p>            Thor was met in the corridor by Lady Eir and two of her assistants. “This way, quickly,” Lady Eir said.</p><p>            “Wait,” Thor cried, feeling Loki tense in his arms. Thor had just enough time to drop to the ground before Loki began seizing again.</p><p>            “Place your hands underneath his head,” Lady Eir instructed. “Do not try to restrain him, simply make sure he does bang his head against the floor.”</p><p>            Thor rushed to follow her instructions. Lady Eir said something to one of her assistants, who ran to do her bidding. The other remained behind to help the lead healer in her task. After what felt like an eternity, Loki’s convulsions stopped. Thor aided in placing Loki onto the cot and rushing him to the healing halls.</p><p>            Lady Eir was quick to place Loki within a soul forge. Loki’s vitals were displayed above him along with… Thor was sure he was about to be sick from the extent of the injuries Loki had been hiding. Had he had these injuries while on Midgard? Had someone here inflicted them? Rage surged through Thor, whoever had done this to his brother would pay.</p><p>            “What news?” his mother asked the moment she and Odin had entered the room.</p><p>            “I have not had the ability to conduct a full examination,” Lady Eir replied.</p><p>            “What <em>can</em> you tell us?” his father asked.</p><p>            “Preliminary analysis,” Lady Eir never took her eyes from her patient, “Prince Loki was tortured.”</p><p>            His mother gasped and his father’s expression darkened.</p><p>            “I need time to conduct a full examination,” continued Lady Eir, “I will have more information for you once I do. It would be best for you to wait outside, your majesties.”</p><p>            “Of course,” Odin replied.</p><p>            Thor was rooted to the spot. Leave Loki? He couldn’t—</p><p>            “We will only be in her way,” his father said softly, a hand on Thor’s arm turning him away. “Loki is in the best hands.”</p><p>            Once out in the hallway, Thor’s anger returned. “How did we not see this?” Their battle on Midgard should not have resulted in the injuries he had seen.</p><p>            “Loki is good at hiding what he does not want seen,” his father replied. “However, I would like to know why it was reported to me that Loki was in good health with minimal injuries when it is clearly <em>not </em>the case.”</p><p>            “Lady Eir was in the outer villages when Loki returned,” his mother said. “Had she examined him then, we would have known about this sooner. Who examined Loki when he first returned?”</p><p>            “Healer Brigitta,” Odin replied. “She gave me the report herself.”</p><p>            “She obviously lied,” Thor growled, “but why?”</p><p>            “I do not know, but I fully intend to find out.”</p><p>            That gave Thor some small comfort. “What did you do to him?”</p><p>            His father sighed but one look from his mother had Odin saying, “The names he spoke, Ebony Maw, is a powerful telekinetic and a master sorcerer. The Other… no one knows exactly what the Other is. Some think him to be a member of the Chitauri but no one knows for sure. That creature is known for his telepathy. Both of them are master torturers and both of them are allies of the Mad Titan.”</p><p>            All color drained out of his mother’s face and she appeared ready to faint. Thor had only known one thing to cause such a reaction in her and that had been when they had told her of Loki’s fall. “If Loki had fallen into their grasp…” she breathed.</p><p>            “Then it explains quite a bit.”</p><p>            “Loki has said things which made no sense at the time but if what you suggest is true, now it does.”</p><p>            “I asked Loki if he felt any remorse for what he did on Midgard,” Thor said, not knowing if his parents had heard any of his and Loki’s conversation. He moved to the other side of the hallway and leaned against the wall. “He asked why should he feel remorse for something that never happened.”</p><p>            “We can speculate all we want but we will not really know until he awakens,” said Odin.</p><p>            “You did something with Gungnir, what was it?” his mother asked.</p><p>            “When Loki spoke those names and from what Thor has said about the Scepter Loki carried on Midgard, I used Gungnir to look for a link which shouldn’t have been there. I found a damaged bond, blackened and festering, and I attempted to sever it.” Odin frowned, “Thor, I need you to return to Midgard and retrieve the Scepter. It may help to explain why Loki is in the condition he is.”</p><p>            Leave? Now? His father couldn’t be asking Thor to abandon Loki? Guilt flooded Thor because he <em>had </em>abandoned Loki. His brother had been back in Asgard for months and Thor had not once visited him, had in fact found it easier to ignore his presence all together. He mistakenly believed it would lessen the pain he felt whenever he thought of his brother.</p><p>            “All right,” Thor agreed reluctantly, silently cursing the newly repaired Bifröst, “I will return as soon as possible.” He bid his parents farewell and rushed to carry out his father’s request as soon as quickly as he could.  </p><p>* * *</p><p>            Days turned into weeks which in turn melted into months. Loki came to the conclusion early on that his torture this time around was being surrounded by the very things he would never again have. Well, to a point. True torture would have been to make him believe he’d been granted freedom just to rip it all away. Best not to give them any ideas.</p><p>            His one constant visitor was always the illusion of Frigga. Another constant were her pleas for him to speak with her and her profession of her continued love for him. The real Frigga may have said the same things but Loki doubted she could ever care for him any longer. If <em>any</em> of them had truly loved him, they wouldn’t have left him on <em>Sanctuary.</em> He wondered why they had continued to use Frigga’s visage and not torment him with illusions of Thor and Odin. Those two had been instrumental in sending Loki to his current fate.</p><p>            Loki’s attention was drawn to a figure moving outside of his cell. Fake-Thor staggered over to the cell’s controls and deactivated the force shield. Loki watched as the illusion of Thor stumbled into the cell and fell to lay face down upon the chaise. Loki forced himself to remain sitting where he was and not take a defensive stance. The force shield remained off, leaving Loki with a clear means of escape. He was not, however, about to fall for such an obvious trap.</p><p>            Fake-Thor began snoring and Loki listened to it for a minute or two before commenting, “Now this is an interesting turn.”</p><p>            Fake-Thor grumbled and his hand groped for something. “Shut up,” he moaned, “and turn the light off.”</p><p>            “Would that I could,” Loki replied, “but I have no control over them.” He waited and watched as Fake-Thor shot up and took in his surroundings. The creature wearing Thor’s visage gave off the impression of being very drunk though Loki doubted the creature really was. <em>He</em> would not have allowed any of his minions to work such manipulations while intoxicated.</p><p>            He and the Fake-Thor began a back and forth and Loki couldn’t help but laugh when the creature asked if he felt any remorse for what had happened on Midgard. Loki replied honestly, why feel remorse for lives not actually taken? The only thing Loki had remorse for was his inability to break free of his captors. <em>I truly am weak, even for a monster,</em> he thought.</p><p>            The arrival of Fake-Odin and Frigga was another turn Loki wasn’t quite expecting. He felt a tug on his mind when the false Gungnir started to glow. Loki once again fought against the power of the Scepter, screaming, “Get out of my head!” There was something different about the Scepter’s power this time but Loki didn’t allow himself to bother analyzing what it was. All he knew was he needed to keep them from tearing his mind apart any further.</p><p>            Loki’s scream cut off and he felt himself falling backwards. He inwardly cursed when he felt his body begin flailing out of his control. Something had begun to crack within his mind, the echoing psychic pain intensifying to the point that he welcomed the darkness which swallowed him whole.</p><p>            Loki was unsure of how long the darkness had claimed him but when consciousness returned, he felt himself lying on something rather soft. It was quite pleasurable compared to the hard floor of his cell. He supposed he could have tried to make use of the furniture which had been placed within his cell but he’d had no intention of finding out what any of it really was. He’d spent more than enough time within one of Maw’s contraptions, thank you very much, he wasn’t about to willingly enter into another.</p><p>            When Loki opened his eyes he saw his surroundings had been changed to appear as Asgard’s healing halls. He could hear someone moving around quietly and he wondered what his tormentors had in store for him next. He pulled himself up into a sitting position.</p><p>            “You need to lie back down.”</p><p>            Loki looked over and spotted the illusion of Lady Eir. How many more familiar faces were they going to pull from his mind? He was growing quite tired of it all. Loki pushed back the blanket and realized the glamour he had cast over himself to hide his wounds had fallen.</p><p>            “Be at ease my prince, you are safe here. How are you feeling?” False Eir asked from beside his bed.</p><p>            Loki took a mental stock of his injuries and realized he felt absolutely no pain. The constant agony he’d suffered had lessened when they’d placed him within the cell but it had never gone away completely. Pain had been with him for so long that it was jarring to know it was gone. Even the psychic pain he had felt earlier had vanished. “What have you done?” If he felt no pain, and surely Maw and the Other would know it, they would inflict agony beyond what he had been feeling previously. His heart raced with the thoughts of the torments to come.</p><p>            False Eir furrowed her brow at him. “I have tended to injuries which should have healed ages ago. You are still extremely underweight but that will remedy with time and the right diet. Your infections are clearing and I have healed what minor injuries I could. The rest will heal in short order. Your parents will be pleased to know you have awoken. They are most like still pacing the halls outside.”</p><p>            Instantly, Loki said, “They are not my parents.”</p><p>            “Oh? Why do you say that?”</p><p>            “Why do you persist in this farce?” he asked instead.</p><p>            False Eir pressed her lips together. “Farce?”</p><p>            “Enough with your games!”</p><p>            With a voice full of patience, which only grated on Loki’s nerves, fake Eir asked, “Where do you think you are?”</p><p>            “Just show me my cell.”</p><p>            “You wish to return to your cell?”</p><p>            Loki scoffed, “You speak as though I ever left.”</p><p>            Shock briefly registered across her expression but it was gone in an instant. “If you have not left your cell,” she gestured to their surroundings, “then what is this?”</p><p>            “You know damn well what it is,” Loki growled. “I see no point in this. I <em>know</em> I am still on <em>Sanctuary</em>, there is no point in keeping this sham going.”</p><p>            Fake Eir gestured to something behind Loki and he tensed, twisting around just in time to see someone else leaving the room. <em>You fool</em>, he thought, <em>of course this creature wouldn’t be alone.</em></p><p>            Not a moment later, creatures wearing the visages of Odin and Frigga entered the room. Fraudulent though they may be, the expression of concern on the fake Frigga’s face was convincing enough to make Loki’s heart twist. He hated himself for missing her as much as he did.</p><p>            “Oh my darling,” the illusion said, taking hold of his hand. With her other hand she cupped his cheek. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>            Loki was growing tired of that particular question. “Why do you care?”</p><p>            “You are my son.”</p><p>            “No, I’m not.”</p><p>            “You may not be our son by blood,” fake Odin said, “but in all of the ways that matter, you are <em>ours</em>.”</p><p>            “Your prisoner, your tool,” Loki sneered.</p><p>            “Not at all.”</p><p>            “Your majesty,” false Eir said, “a word if you will.”</p><p>            The three of them crossed to the other side of the room and spoke in low tones. Loki found himself breathing a sigh of relief. He hated being under the Other’s scrutinizing gaze. It had to be the Other in the guise of Odin, as he was the one to use the Scepter on Loki the most. The Other must have disguised the Scepter as Gungnir though he realized the creature hadn’t had it with him this time.</p><p>            His relief was short lived when they all returned. Loki wished he had something he could use as a weapon but he had spent most of his energy and seiðr in hiding his injuries. <em>Foolish, </em>he thought to himself.</p><p>            Upon her return to his bedside, false Frigga took his hand again. “You truly believe this to be nothing more than an illusion?” she asked.</p><p>            “You already know the answer to that,” scoffed Loki.</p><p>            “Loki,” her tone was so similar to the real Frigga that had Loki not known better, he would have thought it to truly be her. “You <em>are</em> home,” she insisted.</p><p>            Loki blew out a harsh breath through his nose and pulled his hand back to cross his arms over his chest. “I have no home. As I asked the poor facsimile of Thor, do you wish to know where you screwed up?” He didn’t wait for them to answer. “It was trying to convince me <em>any </em>of them loved me. Thor threw me into the abyss and if my so-called family cared, they would have come for me by now, wouldn’t they? No, they decided to be done with me and we both know it.”</p><p>            Tears shown in fake Frigga’s eyes though they did not fall. “That is not true at all,” she said. “Loki, my darling, if we had known where you were, we would have come for you.”</p><p>            “Heimdall searched for you after you fell,” fake Odin added. “Even with his sight he could not see you. We all thought you were dead.” The fake’s expression had the audacity to pretend that pained him. “Loki, Thor did not throw you into the Void, you…” he swallowed hard, “you let go son.”</p><p>            “You’re lying,” Loki growled.</p><p>            “We aren’t,” false Frigga insisted. “You believe this to be an illusion. If this were so, then how we feel in the ether would be different. No illusion would be able to perfectly mimic the signature of our seiðr, there would be some imperfection. Feel me dearheart and know the truth.”</p><p>            Loki turned his gaze away and placed it somewhere upon the far wall. He refused to fall for such a trick. He was not about to willingly let these creatures into his mind.</p><p>            He sucked in a breath at the tentative brush against his seiðr. The sensation was achingly familiar and one he had longed for. With some hesitation, Loki reached back with his own. His heart shuddered in his chest the more he probed. He slowly reached out to feel Odin’s presence only to quickly pull his senses back. This couldn’t be real, it couldn’t! He refused to believe it, even if what he had felt pointed to a truth he wanted to deny. Because if it was true and he was on Asgard then that meant… that meant…</p><p>            “No,” Loki gasped, his sight blurring with tears. “No, it wasn’t real. It wasn’t,” he buried his face in his hands. “It wasn’t supposed to be real. I… I…” He looked to <em>his parents</em>. “I attacked Midgard?” The glance they shared answered for them. “No, you’re lying.” He gripped his hair tightly and pulled. <em>“You’re lying!”</em></p><p>            “There was a mental bond which should not have been there,” said Odin. “It was already damaged and festering. I tried using Gungnir’s power to sever it fully.” His expression darkened and Loki detected a hint of remorse in his expression. “Unfortunately I was unable to do so.”</p><p>            Loki focused his energy inward, reaching for the mental relationships he had formed throughout his life. The ones with his parents and Thor were weakened but intact. He should have sensed the truth of their presence earlier. He had been so sure they had been a part of the continued illusions that he hadn’t bothered to check their legitimacy.</p><p>            The connection his father had spoken of was the poisoned one forced upon him by the Scepter. Odin said the bond had been damaged but what could have caused such a thing? Loki mentally probed at the damaged end, falling back against the bed at the white hot agony that raced through both his mind and body the action had caused. He didn’t know if he cried out verbally or not. What he did know was the pain was excruciating and oblivion was most welcome.</p><p>* * *</p><p>            Frigga sat at her son’s bedside attempting to make something of her needlework. She gave up after removing and re-stitching the same link for the fifth time. Setting her knitting aside, she let her eyes fall upon Loki. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully and she hoped he was but she knew it would not last. Ever since he had learned the truth, that his surroundings were not a trick of his mind and he <em>had</em> caused a great amount of death and destruction on Midgard, Loki had suffered from a series of <em>terrible</em> nightmares. Some of the things he cried out at, she knew had <em>nothing</em> to do with what had transpired on Midgard and everything to do with the year he had been missing.</p><p>            Loki let out a low moan and twitched in his sleep. Frigga stood to lean slightly over the bed. An adverse side effect of Odin attempting to rip away the damaged mental bond was the seizures her son now suffered. Lady Eir felt a part of the reason for the seizures was due to the poor state Loki was in, both physically and mentally. She knew someone or something continued to torment her son and she despised her inability to do <em>anything</em> to help him.</p><p>            When Loki settled, Frigga returned to her seat. She gave her needlework a brief glance before deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to continue working on it. She was far too distracted to give it her full concentration. “Any word of Thor?” she asked her husband when he entered the room.</p><p>            “None yet,” Odin replied softly so as not to wake Loki. He held a steaming mug in his hands. “Heimdall says those who have taken custody of the Scepter are reluctant to part with it. I wish Thor had thought to bring it back with him originally.” Odin handed her the mug and pulled another chair beside hers. “I fear there is a great deal more going on than we know.”</p><p>            “I sense it too,” she replied, taking the tea from him gratefully. She took a few careful sips, lest she burn her tongue. “The Tesseract contains the Space Stone. You initially hid it on Midgard to keep it from Thanos.”</p><p>            Odin nodded, “And I have a terrible feeling the Scepter Loki carried holds another of the Stones. Thanos was banished from the Nine millennia ago but I doubt he has let go of his quest to slaughter half of the universe.” He fell silent for a moment, their breaths the only sounds within the room. Her husband shifted slightly in his chair. “There’s more.”</p><p>            “More?”</p><p>            “I have been thinking, about why Thanos would have warped Loki’s mind so. Beyond the sheer pleasure it gives to him and his so-called ‘Children’, to twist my own child into an agent of Yggdrasil’s destruction would have been, to him, a payback of sorts.”</p><p>            “What are you talking about?”</p><p>            “I was young then, but I was among those who exiled him from the Nine. There is also Loki’s ability to world walk.”</p><p>            Frigga did <em>not</em> like what her husband was implying. “He used Loki to send an agent back within the Nine.”</p><p>            “That is my thought, yes.”</p><p>            They fell silent as the full implication of what Loki’s return meant. As much as she hated to even <em>think</em> it, she felt it would have been better for her son if he had perished in the Void. Frigga would not wish death upon her child but given what she understood to have happened to Loki… “I wish I knew how to take his pain away.”</p><p>            “As do I.” Her husband shifted in his seat, “I spoke with Healer Brigitta about her analysis of Loki’s injuries.”</p><p>            “You spoke to her without me?”</p><p>            “I did not think you would want to leave Loki’s bedside.”</p><p>            Frigga hummed, he was right about that. “What did she have to say for herself?”</p><p>            “She maintained Loki’s injuries were minor. I told her I knew her report to be false and demanded to know why she lied to me.”</p><p>            “What was her reasoning?”</p><p>            “Her brother was one of the guards killed when the Jötnar attacked. By not telling me of Loki’s injuries, it was her own form of retribution, I suppose. I’ve spoken with Lady Eir and Healer Brigitta has been removed from her post. I will need to think of what to do with her as her actions cannot stand but… Loki needs to come first.”           </p><p>            They lapsed into silence once again, taking turns soothing Loki whenever he stirred. Lady Eir came to check on him many times during their watch. Late into the night, Loki suffered another seizure, this one lasting much longer than all of the others. Once it had stopped, Lady Eir managed to coax Loki into taking a tonic meant to help alleviate the condition.</p><p>            “His seizures are becoming worse,” Lady Eir told them after re-examining Loki within the soul forge the following morning. “He has recovered enough for his seiðr to begin helping his body to heal. The prince has gained some weight over the past several days however; I can find nothing physically to explain the prolonged seizures. There is some evidence of prior head trauma but nothing to indicate that is the cause. I feel they have been brought on by a more psychic ailment.”</p><p>            “It’s my punishment,” Loki said, drawing their attention to him.</p><p>            Frigga placed a hand on his shoulder when he attempted to sit up. “Lay back down.”</p><p>            “I’ve been lying down long enough,” Loki’s irritation was obvious.</p><p>            “You need your rest,” she insisted.</p><p>            “No amount of rest will help me. I <em>can’t</em> be helped.”</p><p>            “Of course you can,” Frigga refused to believe otherwise.</p><p>            “You do not understand. The corrupted mental bond… it connects me to <em>them.</em> In near every situation where they ‘sent’ me to Midgard, the Other would contact me and remind me of the consequences of failure.” Loki looked away before giving a minute shake of his head. “He said that there would be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where <em>he</em> could not find me<em>.</em>”</p><p>            “You are safest here, in Asgard,” Odin said.</p><p>            “I’m not safe anywhere. The only place I could have any semblance of safety from <em>him</em> would be in Hel.”</p><p>            “Do not!” Odin barked, “Don’t you dare go there boy.”</p><p>            Frigga agreed whole heartedly with her husband. Loki had tried to take his life once and his words made her fear he would try again. “We have only just gotten you back. Do not…” She brushed her fingers through his hair. “Dearheart, we could not live with losing you again. We <em>will</em> protect you.”</p><p>            The corner of Loki’s mouth quirked upwards, “Such care for a monster.”</p><p>            “You are many things,” said Odin firmly, “but a monster is not one of them.”</p><p>            Loki appeared far from convinced but made no further comment on the matter.</p><p>            “While you may not believe further rest will do you good,” Lady Eir said to Loki, reminding them all of her presence, “I insist you try. I will provide you with a sleeping draught to help you relax.” Loki opened his mouth, most likely to protest but Lady Eir cut him off. “Healers orders.” Frigga had to suppress a smile when Loki rolled his eyes and grumbled something under his breath. Neither of her boys had particularly enjoyed stays in the healing halls as children. That had not changed in adulthood either.</p><p>            From the look Lady Eir sent both her and Odin, it was clear the suggestion of rest was not solely for Loki. “Will you be all right for a bit?” she asked her son.</p><p>            “Even if I were to say no, there is nothing you can do for me anyway,” Loki said. “I do not say that to hurt you,” he added quickly, “it is simply the truth.”</p><p>            One she continued to hate. “Your father and I will be back later.” She pressed a kiss to his head, “I love you dearheart,” she said softly.</p><p>            Odin gave Loki’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before they left the healing halls. Frigga wanted to stay by Loki’s side but she understood there really was nothing she could do for him, besides offer him company and comfort.</p><p>            She hoped Thor would return from Midgard soon and that the mystery of the Scepter would hold the answers to helping Loki heal.</p><p>* * *</p><p>            Thor and his companions made their way from the Observatory to the palace and into the healing halls. Thor was anxious, afraid Loki’s condition had somehow worsened in his absence. It had taken several days to convince SHIELD and the World Security Council to allow him to bring the Scepter back to Asgard. His new mortal companions had accompanied him once he had explained the situation to them, to the best of his ability. There was still much Thor didn’t know.</p><p>            Stark whistled, “Shwanky digs, Point Break.”</p><p>            Thor was unsure if Stark meant that as a compliment or insult. He decided it didn’t matter but thanked him anyway.</p><p>            “Where is Loki being held?” Rogers asked.</p><p>            “Within the healing halls,” Thor replied.</p><p>            “Not a jail cell?” Barton asked, anger barely detectable in his voice.</p><p>            Thor did detect it though and he understood the man’s irritation. Of all his new Midgardian friends, Barton was the one Loki had harmed the most by taking control of his mind and forcing him to do things against his will. Thor was unsure if it would make any difference should it be proven that Loki’s own actions had been controlled by another. On Barton’s part, probably not.</p><p>            “Is it possible he’s just conning everyone?” Banner asked.</p><p>            “I guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Romanoff replied.</p><p>            “I wouldn’t put it past the guy,” Barton said. “I still don’t like it.”</p><p>            “Let’s just wait and see how things go,” Rogers offered.</p><p>            “Works for me,” Stark said, his eyes taking in everything around them. “Is all of this <em>actual</em> gold or is it gold plated?”</p><p>            Thor frowned, “The gold is real.”</p><p>            Stark whistled again. “Damn. Must have taken forever to get.”</p><p>            Thor’s frown deepened. He’d never put much thought into the gold used throughout Glaðsheimr. Instead of commenting, he led them the rest of the way to the healing halls.</p><p>            They were met along the way by Odin, who Thor suspected had been informed of their arrival by Heimdall. “You have it,” a statement, not a question.</p><p>            Romanoff held up the silver case holding the Scepter. “What is it you planned to do?”</p><p>            One of his father’s eyebrows twitched. “I wish to examine it.”</p><p>            “Yeah, but <em>why?</em>” Barton asked. “We all know Loki is batshit crazy. I’m with Banner on this one. How do you know he isn’t just pulling one over on you all so he can escape?”</p><p>            Odin’s expression darkened considerably. “Have care in how you speak,” he warned. “Loki is a Prince of Asgard and, regardless of his transgressions, he deserves the respect his title grants him.”</p><p>            Barton scoffed, crossing his arms. He was clearly unhappy with the situation. Thor thought it best to change the subject. “How is Loki?” he asked his father. <em>Wonderful topic change, idiot. </em></p><p>            “I was on my way to check on him when Heimdall informed me of your arrival.”</p><p>            Odin gestured for them to follow him. Thor could almost feel his companion’s wariness. Banner had his arms crossed tightly around himself as though he expected something to trigger his change into Hulk. Romanoff’s gaze remained focused ahead but Thor suspected she was taking in everything around them. Barton’s posture was rigid, his anger plain for everyone to see. Rogers was the clear leader of the Midgardians and attempted to speak to Odin about the situation while Stark… Thor wasn’t even going to attempt trying to figure Stark out. Stark was an enigma unto himself.</p><p>            “I hope you understand where we are coming from,” Rogers was saying. “Loki caused a great amount of devastation on Earth and if this <em>is</em> one of his tricks—”</p><p>            “It is not,” Odin said with such conviction Thor could not help but believe him. “We only recently learned there were other powers at play.”</p><p>            “Thor mentioned something about someone else pulling Loki’s strings,” said Stark.</p><p>            Barton snorted, “Convenient excuse if you ask me.”</p><p>            “That’s just it Legolas, no one did,” retorted Stark. “Yeah, Loki brainwashed you and a bunch of other people. Hell, he tried to do the same thing to me but it didn’t work for some reason. If, and I say <em>if,</em> he wasn’t in total control then maybe we should figure out who was pulling <em>his</em> strings.”</p><p>            “How do we know he hasn’t somehow brainwashed everyone here, even without the Scepter?”</p><p>            “Such a thing is not within his power,” Odin replied evenly.</p><p>            “But how do we <em>know</em>?”</p><p>            “Look,” Stark said, “we don’t but that’s why we’re here.” Stark frowned, his flippant attitude from earlier disappearing. “None of you saw what I did on the other side of that portal. I’m willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.”</p><p>            Which now begged the question, what <em>had </em>Stark seen? Thor, and it seems no one else either, had seen fit to ask.</p><p>            “You still have yet to describe what it was you saw when you went through,” Rogers said.</p><p>            An emotion Thor couldn’t quite place flitted across Stark’s face for a brief moment. “I’m still trying to understand it myself.”</p><p>            When they finally came to Loki’s room, Odin stopped them. “Leave the Scepter out here.” He motioned for one of the Einherjar who stepped forward to take possession of the case.</p><p>            “No disrespect, your majesty, but the Scepter is to remain in our possession while we’re here,” Rogers said.</p><p>            “I’ll not have that near Loki. Not until we understand exactly what it is.”</p><p>            “Guess we’re leaving then,” Barton said.</p><p>            “Wait,” Thor cried. “I know Loki has caused you great harm but… if the Scepter can help to explain why he has changed—”</p><p>            “Thor,” interrupted Barton, “you have <em>no </em>idea what Loki put me through and we know exactly why he did what he did. He wants to dominate the Earth. Pretty straight forward if you ask me and what about Selvig? Because of Loki, he’s now in a psychiatric institution. Your brother made him <em>crazy</em>. The doctors don’t know if he’ll ever recover.”</p><p>            Thor was saddened by what had happened to Selvig. “Am I just to abandon my brother?”</p><p>            <em>Didn’t you do that already?</em></p><p>            “It might be more than that,” Banner said, somewhat timidly.</p><p>            “Not you too,” groaned Barton.</p><p>            Banner shot the other man an unimpressed look. “You weren’t there when we had the Scepter on the helicarrier, we were only in the same room as it and Loki was in an entirely different area but the Scepter somehow had us nearly at each other’s throats.”</p><p>            “Loki—”</p><p>            “You can’t always blame Loki, Clint,” Romanoff said softly.</p><p>            “If you are all well and truly done,” Odin said, his patience having run out, “then the Einherjar will take the Scepter until we are done.”</p><p>            “I’ll stay out here with it,” Rogers offered. “I’m sorry, but one of us needs to stay with it.”</p><p>            “What about just inside the door,” suggested Stark. “We’ll be able to keep an eye on it and it’ll also not be near Loki, unless the room is small which,” he gestured at their surroundings, “I doubt.”</p><p>            “Father?” Thor asked.</p><p>            Odin blew out a sharp breath. “Very well, but it goes no further than the door.”</p><p>            At last at an agreement, they finally stepped into the room. Loki was sitting up and he did look better than when Thor had seen him last, but not by much. Thor heard the others enter behind him and the sound of the case containing the Scepter being placed on the floor. They had barely entered the room before Loki’s eyes went wide, his body rigid and he sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes flashed a sickly blue before rolling up into his head followed by the worst seizure Thor had seen him suffer.</p><p>            “Loki!” Thor cried.</p><p>            “Well he sure as hell isn’t faking that,” Stark said.</p><p>            To Thor’s surprise, Banner rushed over in an attempt to help. “Has he always suffered from seizures?”</p><p>            A brief flash of annoyance crossed Lady Eir’s face. She called out instructions to her assistants, pulling the pillow from under his brother’s head so Loki lay flat. Thor thought the worse was over when Loki’s limbs stopped flailing but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Loki’s jaw was clenched so tightly Thor feared he’d somehow injure himself.</p><p>            “He’s going to crack his teeth if he keeps this up any longer,” Banner said. “What do you have in the way of anti-seizure drugs?”</p><p>            Lady Eir called for a draught which was quickly brought over to her. With Banner’s help, they managed to open Loki’s mouth enough to administer it, along with a strip of leather to keep him from grinding his teeth together. Loki’s chest heaved as he tried to draw breath and he let out painful sounding moans. Thor heard fabric tearing and saw Loki had gripped the bedsheets so tightly his fingers had gone through them.</p><p>            “This is not a normal seizure,” Lady Eir said.</p><p>            “What is the cause then?” his mother asked frantically.</p><p>            Loki’s moans became screams. Thor and everyone else watched in horror as what appeared to be claw marks ran down along the side of Loki’s face. The skin opened up and blood began to flow down along his face and neck. Along with several more severe cuts opening was the sound of bones breaking. The fingers of Loki’s right hand were now bent in directions they were never meant to.</p><p>            “Increase the protective warding throughout the hall,” Lady Eir barked. She turned back to Frigga. “This is not due to any kind of head trauma. The prince is being attacked psychically.”</p><p>            Barton pressed the heel of one hand against an eye, taking a few stumbling steps backwards. He let out his own groan and dropped to his knees. “I feel like someone is trying to put an icepick through my eye.”</p><p>            As one, Thor and Odin spun around, their eyes landing on the silver case containing the Scepter. Thor detected a faint blue glow emanating from between the seam of the case. “The Scepter,” Rogers said at the same time Thor rushed forward.</p><p>            He snatched the case from the floor before anyone else could. He ripped the lid open and pulled out the Scepter. The blue gem seemed to glow even brighter once brought out into the light. Barton pressed both hands to his head and Loki’s screams intensified. Thor snatched Mjölnir from his belt and, ignoring several cries of, “Wait!” brought her down upon the stone. Thor and those closest to him were thrown back by the blast of energy the action released.</p><p>            The first thing Thor noticed once he came back to his senses was the ringing in his ears. He blinked rapidly to clear the spots dancing across his vision. More sounds beyond the ringing began to register to him, the sounds of people moving and harsh breathing coming from behind him. As Thor’s vision cleared he spotted the now destroyed Scepter, metal bent and gem in pieces. He spotted something within the remnants of the gem and pushed a few of the shards aside to reveal a softly glowing yellow stone.</p><p>            “Don’t touch that,” Odin barked. He rushed to retrieve a small glass container which he used to carefully place the stone into.</p><p>            “What is it?” asked Romanoff.</p><p>            “<em>Not</em> a way to clear up tinnitus,” Stark remarked, opening and closing his jaw. With a more serious tone, he asked, “It was a stone within a stone?”</p><p>            His mother saying Loki’s name drew Thor’s attention back to his brother. Loki no longer appeared to be suffering his convulsions and in fact his breathing was slowing to a normal rhythm. Lady Eir was already examining Loki’s condition and tending to his wounds. While she set Loki’s broken fingers another healer was cleaning away the blood on his face and binding the skin back together.</p><p>            “Just out of curiosity but did anyone else see that, uh, thing?” asked Banner.</p><p>            “You mean the thing doing a terrible impression of Emperor Palpatine?” asked Stark. “Then yeah, I did.”</p><p>            “I saw it too,” said Rogers.</p><p>            “Same,” Romanoff replied.</p><p>            “Anyone care to take a guess as to <em>what</em> it was?” Stark queried.</p><p>            “It was…” Loki’s voice was soft and tired sounding, “the Other.”</p><p>            Banner spoke up next, “The other what?”</p><p>            “That is the creature’s name,” Odin replied, “the Other. Whatever its true name was has been lost to time.” He inspected the stone he now held in the jar.</p><p>            “It’s quiet,” said Loki.</p><p>            Thor finally had the presence of mind to stand from where he had been thrown back onto the floor.</p><p>            “He’s right,” Barton said before Thor could speak. “It is quiet.”</p><p>            “Clint?” Romanoff inquired.</p><p>            “I didn’t say anything before,” Barton sighed, “since the blow to the head broke me free from Loki’s control but… I could always hear the damn spear whispering.”</p><p>            “Why didn’t you say anything before?” Rogers asked.</p><p>            “Because it didn’t have any control over me. I could hear it but that was it.”</p><p>            “Then why did it seem to affect you now?”</p><p>            “His proximity,” Frigga replied. She had been forced to take a step back while Loki was being tended to. “Though why only him?”</p><p>            Odin nodded, “You were forced under the influence of the Scepter, it is why you hold such animosity towards my son,” he said to Barton. “You were close enough to it while the Other inflicted a psychic attack upon Loki.”</p><p>            “I’m not psychic,” Barton said.</p><p>            “You wouldn’t have to be. You were already influenced by it once and, while you were no longer under its control, there was still a small mental tether. It was just enough of a link for you to feel the echoes of the pain he was inflicting upon Loki.”</p><p>            “It seems to be gone now.”</p><p>            “Loki?” Thor asked, inching his way towards the bed.</p><p>            “He’s asleep,” Banner replied.</p><p>            “Is that normal?”</p><p>            It was Lady Eir who replied. “It is. The convulsions and mental attack upon him have sapped his energy. He will sleep for a time.”</p><p>            Frigga was at last allowed back by Loki’s bedside. She began running her fingers gently through his hair. Though she did not turn her gaze it was her husband she addressed when she asked, “Do you think the creature will be able to attack Loki again?”</p><p>            “I do not know,” Odin replied. “We will have to wait until he awakens.”</p><p>             “Was he always this thin?” Banner asked.</p><p>            Something twisted in Thor’s chest when he realized his Midgardian allies were staring at Loki. He knew Loki would hate to be scrutinized in such a way. Various expressions flitted across each of their faces and he thought Stark looked almost as though he was going to be sick. The inventor’s gaze swiveled back and forth between Loki and the remnants of the Scepter on the floor.</p><p>            “I get the feeling he’s going to be out for a while,” Stark said. He gestured with his chin to the mess on the floor. “Anyone want to help me find some answers about that thing?”</p><p>            Odin and Frigga both nodded, “Gladly.”</p><p>* * *</p><p>            When Loki awoke several hours later, he kept his eyes closed so no one would notice he was no longer asleep. He mentally ran across his body, feeling for aches and pains. The skin around his cheek was a little tight and there was a dull ache in the fingers of his right hand but nothing more than that. He turned his mental eye inward, inspecting his shielding and psychic bonds. He was tentative in his examination as he didn’t want to send anyone running to his bedside.</p><p>            Loki stopped his inspection when he came upon a bond that had been cut and cauterized. He somehow knew this was the link the Other and Ebony Maw had used to twist his mind. While it had been severed he couldn’t abide even an <em>echo</em> of the forced bond. Grabbing at it with ethereal hands, he ripped it out from his end. He wasn’t able to keep his slight grunt at the action at bay.</p><p>            “I know you are no longer asleep. How are you feeling my prince?”</p><p>            Loki saw no reason to pretend to be asleep any longer and opened his eyes. Lady Eir stood at his bedside doing something just out of his view. He turned his head and saw her mixing healing draughts. Loki thought about her question for a moment. “What happened?” he asked instead.</p><p>            “You suffered a seizure and a psychic attack. The artifact which caused your condition was destroyed and now your father and several Midgardians are examining its remains.”</p><p>            Loki thought he recalled seeing the <em>Avengers</em> but hadn’t believed it to be real. A part of him had still been suspicious that what he was seeing was nothing more than an illusion and that he was still on <em>Sanctuary.</em> Now though, with the bond linking him to <em>them</em> through the Scepter cut and ripped from his mind he was <em>certain</em> he was finally free of them. On the heels of that thought was the reminder of what he had done on Midgard. He may be free of <em>them</em> but he was not free of what he had done. What was worse, he wasn’t sure he believed he deserved anything less than the sentence his father had already decreed for him.</p><p>            “How do you feel?” Lady Eir repeated.</p><p>            “Better,” Loki said and realized it was truth.</p><p>            “That is wonderful to hear,” the lead healer replied. “The wounds to your face and broken fingers will be healed by morning.”</p><p>            “Thank you for all you have done for me,” Loki said.</p><p>            She gently squeezed his shoulder. “You are welcome.” Her expression became expectant. “Now, will you be a good patient and allow me a <em>full</em> examination?”</p><p>            Loki pressed his lips together to suppress the smile that tugged at his lips. “If I must,” he said.</p><p>            The hand on his shoulder gave a soft pat. “Good,” Lady Eir replied with a tiny smile of her own gracing her lips.</p><p>             Loki was a model patient and after the examination he managed to sweet talk her into letting him sit in the window seat. One of the few perks to having a private room within the healing halls was his ability to move about the suite somewhat although he was not allowed outside of the room. Which was fair, he supposed, he was a monster after all.</p><p>            He lost track of time as he stared out across Asgard. The sun shone in after a while and he enjoyed its rays upon his face. Loki had never thought to ever see the sun again. He soaked in its warmth, not sure when or if he would ever see it again.</p><p>            Lady Eir checked on him throughout the day, making sure his latest injuries were healing properly. He was healing slower than he would have liked but it was an unfortunate side effect of what had happened to him on <em>Sanctuary</em> along with everything that had happened to him afterwards. To both of their delight, it appeared the seizures Loki had suffered from had disappeared. Lady Eir would continue to monitor him in case they returned but Loki doubted they would. He suspected they had been a result of the damaged bond between himself and the Other. With the bond torn completely from his mind, he was finally able to begin repairing the damage Ebony Maw and the Other had done.</p><p>            This time when the door to his rooms opened it was not Lady Eir who entered, but Thor and their parents. They approached him somewhat cautiously. Thor hung back furthest, seeming almost uncomfortable there. “How are you feeling?” his mother asked, drawing his attention to her.</p><p>            “Growing tired of everyone asking me that,” replied Loki, returning his gaze to the window.</p><p>            “Lady Eir tells us you will make a full recovery,” Odin said.</p><p>            The healer had told him as much as well. It was a relief to know no permanent damage had been done to his body. His mind however, he wasn’t sure if his mind would ever heal. Loki was mad and a monster and… “What is to be done with me?”</p><p>            His parents shared a look and Loki suspected he was destined for the dungeons once again. “You will remain here until Lady Eir deems you well enough to leave.”</p><p>            Loki turned his eyes away from the outdoors back to them. “If I am to be locked in the dungeon for the rest of my life, it would be a greater mercy to simply execute me. I have been driven mad once, I would rather not suffer it again.”</p><p>            Another look passed between his parents. “While you must endure some punishment for your actions on Midgard,” his father began, “in light of new information surroundings those actions, such a punishment outweighs the crimes.”</p><p>            Loki openly gaped at his father. “You must be joking.”</p><p>            Thor stepped forward now, “You didn’t believe any of it was real.”</p><p>            “That doesn’t change what I did,” Loki argued.</p><p>            “It changes everything.”</p><p>            “Does it change the lives that were lost or the destruction I caused?”</p><p>            “No,” Thor admitted somewhat reluctantly, “but you feel remorse for those actions now, don’t you?”</p><p>            “Yes,” Loki said with a sigh. “Yes, I feel remorse now but… At the time… I <em>enjoyed</em> it. I relished the destruction I caused because it felt like an outlet for all of the anger and hurt I hold.”</p><p>            “I believe this is a discussion for another time,” Odin said.</p><p>            Loki let out a snort, “Oh yes, lets ignore everything. If we do so then maybe the problem will go away.” Odin had been correct in that assumption for a time. He had ignored Loki long enough that Loki had indeed gone away. Loki being back now was only a temporary setback.</p><p>            “What I mean,” his father said with a forced calm, “is wait until you have had more time to heal. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail then.”</p><p>            “I am perfectly calm.”</p><p>            “You are growing agitated,” his mother said gently.</p><p>            “Noticed that, did you,” Loki snapped.</p><p>            “Loki,” Odin admonished, “you’ve no reason to speak to your mother in such a way.”</p><p>            <em>She’s not my mother,</em> sat on the tip of his tongue but the words never passed his lips. How many times had he denied her only to wish it was the truth? “I know,” he replied, forcing himself to calm, “I apologize.”</p><p>            She smiled at him graciously, “Emotions have been running high as of late.”</p><p>            “It is no reason for me to take my anger out on you.”</p><p>            “You do have reason to be angry with myself and your father. It is also reasonable such anger will take time to overcome. There is much to be discussed, from both before and after you fell from Bifröst.” Frigga took a seat across from him on the windowsill. “It does not have to be right now and it does not have to happen all at once. Take time to recover, both your body and soul and when you are ready, we will speak.”</p><p>            Loki was unsure if he would <em>ever</em> be ready but he nodded anyway. He fought the urge to roll his eyes when he caught Thor shifting nervously from foot to foot.</p><p>            “Would you be willing to speak for a few moments brother?” asked Thor.</p><p>            Loki pondered Thor’s request but in the end, for a reason he couldn’t quite fathom, he agreed.</p><p>            “We will return later,” his mother said. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Odin gave his shoulder a squeeze.</p><p>            He and Thor watched their parents leave and Thor took their mother’s place on the sill. “What did you wish to speak of?” Loki asked.</p><p>            Thor sat in silence to the point Loki was tempted to kick him. Thor had asked to speak with him and now they were alone, Thor was suddenly a mute. Loki resisted the urge to wrap his arms around himself protectively. The longer Thor remained silent, the more frustrated Loki became. He opened his mouth to speak only—</p><p>            “When did we lose our ability to communicate?” Thor asked. “We used to know everything about each other.” His gaze finally found Loki’s, “What happened to us brother?”</p><p>            Loki shrugged, unable to hold Thor’s gaze. “We drifted apart some time ago,” he agreed. “There was no one thing to cause it Thor. You… you are the sun and all of Asgard loves you. I am nothing but a shadow, barely tolerated by them.”</p><p>            “That’s not—” Thor started to protest only for his expression to fall as he realized the truth of Loki’s words. Loki’s chest tightened painfully at the sight. As much as he had tried to deny it, he did still care for his family and they <em>were </em>family. They had hurt one another, that much was true, and nothing would ever be the same but the thought of leaving and losing them forever… it was a thought he could not tolerate. The very <em>idea </em>had become anathema to him.</p><p>            “I never realized how you felt,” Thor said. “I thought everyone saw you the same way I saw you. We were equals and—”</p><p>            “We were never equals Thor,” Loki interrupted gently, “and I doubt it was until recently you began to think that way. I know you have thought me beneath you.”</p><p>            Thor’s eyes widened in shock. “I never—”</p><p>            When Loki interrupted this time, he spoke with Thor’s own voice, “Know your place brother.”</p><p>            Thor winced, his face flushing with shame. “I did say that to you, didn’t I? I was so angry I hadn’t been crowned king and I took it out on you. You tried to talk sense into me, tried to keep us from going to Jötunheim and I disregarded you and cast you aside while simultaneously dragging you with me. I’m so sorry Loki. If I had never forced you to go to Jötunheim none of this would have happened.”</p><p>            “Perhaps not,” Loki replied, his voice returning to normal, “but then I wouldn’t have learned the truth.”</p><p>            “It’s a truth which pains you.” Thor bit his lip. “Is that why you let go?”</p><p>            The conversation was growing quite heavy and Loki was not ready to delve into that particular topic quite yet. He might never be, to be honest. “I’d rather not talk about it.”</p><p>            Thor appeared as though he wanted to say more on the subject but thankfully he acceded to Loki’s request. “This discussion isn’t over but it might be better if mother and father are here too. Brother—”</p><p>            “Why do you keep calling me that?</p><p>            “Why wouldn’t I?”</p><p>            “I’m not your brother.”</p><p>            Thor looked aghast, “Of course you are.”</p><p>            “I’m really not.”</p><p>            Thor seemed to deflate before Loki’s eyes. “This is about your heritage, isn’t it?” Thor asked.</p><p>            Loki’s stomach twisted and his chest tightened. He dropped his gaze to his lap where he picked at the fingers of his still healing hand. “I’d rather not talk about that either.”</p><p>            “It pains you.” Thor’s hand covered his, forcing Loki to stop fidgeting. “Father and mother never should have kept it from you and even if I was never told, they shouldn’t have allowed me to say the things I did.”</p><p>            Loki blinked back sudden tears. He blamed his raging emotions on his weakened body. <em>It isn’t just my body which is weak</em>, he thought angrily. Everything <em>about me is weak. </em></p><p>            “It explains much, doesn’t it?” Loki found himself saying. “Why I never seemed to measure up to being a proper Asgardian, it’s because I’m not Asgardian. I’m…” his throat seemed to close on him. He breathed deep until he was able to speak again. Holding up a hand, he said, “This isn’t even what I really look like and, you know, <em>I </em>don’t even know what I look like. I can’t bring myself to see, the very thought of it makes me sick.”</p><p>            He dropped his hand back to his lap. “I had never even realized my very appearance was an illusion. It has always felt natural; I had no reason to suspect it was a lie.”</p><p>            “It’s not a lie Loki.”</p><p>            Loki scoffed, “Don’t be so naïve Thor. You and I both know a monster hides underneath my skin.”</p><p>            “You can take many shapes brother, all of them you and none a lie nor are you a monster.”</p><p>            “Aren’t I?”</p><p>            “Of course not.”</p><p>            “I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.”</p><p>            “Or I can remind you every day until you can come to see it for yourself.”</p><p>            “Don’t bother, it won’t matter.”</p><p>            “What do you mean? Why would you say that?”</p><p>            It was obvious, wasn’t it? “I’ll be locked away until I die and besides, all of Asgard already sees me as a monster, what I did on Midgard only reinforces the belief. It isn’t worth trying to change anything.” Loki turned his gaze back to Thor. “Why now?”</p><p>            “What?”</p><p>            “Why are you here, now?”</p><p>            Thor frowned. “I wanted to visit, to see if you were doing better?”</p><p>            Loki sent Thor a look which clearly showed his skepticism. “You’re here to make yourself feel better. It has nothing to do with me.”</p><p>            “How can you say that?” asked Thor, gaping at him in disbelief.</p><p>            “Easily. I have been locked in the dungeon for <em>months </em>and you never once visited. The <em>only </em>reason you showed up was because you were drunk off your ass. If you had been sober you never would have seen me.”</p><p>            “That’s not true! Father forbade—”</p><p>            “That never stopped you before,” interrupted Loki. “If you didn’t get your way, you would throw a temper tantrum and if something or <em>someone </em>didn’t conform to your views then…” he spread his hands. “You have only cared for me when it was convenient. You were quite quick to distance yourself from me when speaking with your new Midgardian friends.”</p><p>            Shock and a little bit of fear flitted across Thor’s gaze. “I would never do that.”</p><p>            “‘He’s adopted’,” Loki said blandly. Thor’s face flushed again. “You couldn’t have said that fast enough, could you?”</p><p>            “I… Wait, how do you even know I said that?”</p><p>            “I know you better than you realize and besides, I heard you.”</p><p>            “You couldn’t have. You were in the—”</p><p>            “The glass prison, yes I was, but you apparently never took into account it wasn’t warded, at all. I could have left at any time and in fact, I watched your little meeting about me. I knew about the green beast from Barton and it was quite easy to convince the woman I would use him in my plans.” Loki gave a half shrug. “The beast did come in handy and while I didn’t appreciate being tossed around like a ragdoll, it did help to damage the bond between myself and <em>his</em> minions.</p><p>            “As for what you said to your new friends, you wanted to impress them and a homicidal brother, one Hel-bent on conquering their world, was not the way to do so. By saying I’m adopted you could remove yourself from anything I had done. We share no blood and I am…” he cleared his throat. “I am Jötunn which means it must be in my very nature to be evil. I was born that way, after all.”</p><p>            Thor leaned back as Loki spoke, a look of absolute misery crossing his face. Though now that Loki was on a roll, he found he couldn’t stop talking until he’d gotten everything off his chest.</p><p>            “It never once occurred to you or anyone that there was something <em>wrong</em> with me. No, it was just assumed everything I did; I did for some nefarious reason. I may not have realized everything around me was real and the Midgardians wouldn’t have reason to know something was wrong with me but <em>you</em>, you who have known me for over a thousand years, who made claims of brotherhood <em>assumed</em> I was attacking Midgard as a means of ‘recompense for imagined slights’. I haven’t imagined <em>anything</em> and the worst part of it all is, no one, <em>no one</em> asked me <em>why!</em>”</p><p>            Thor stared up at him with eyes blown wide. Loki hadn’t realized he had stood to loom over Thor during his tirade until Thor nearly fell from the seat. Loki’s chest heaved with his harsh breaths and he forced himself to regain control.</p><p>            “I-I,” Thor stammered, “I didn’t think—”</p><p>            “Of course not, because you <em>never </em>do. Let me guess, it was your sycophantic friends who convinced you I was beyond saving and that I did what I did out of jealously.” Thor’s eyes daring away were answer enough for him. “I’m sure they also told you I orchestrated your banishment so I could take the throne of Asgard for myself as well. I may have shown the Jötanr the way into Asgard,” all of his rage suddenly seemed to drain out of him at the admission, “but it was never supposed to go that far. All I wanted was for someone to finally <em>see</em> you weren’t ready. You’re selfish, arrogant, <em>reckless, </em>and think only of the glory <em>you</em> can obtain and I had tried on numerous occasions to tell Odin but, like you, he didn’t listen either.</p><p>            “Oh, and just in case you <em>do</em> believe I stole the throne from you, I <em>never</em> wanted the damn thing in the first place. The council made me king in your and Odin’s absence and the actions I took as king were for the good of Asgard.”</p><p>            “You tried to wipe out an entire race,” Thor protested.</p><p>            “Yes,” Loki conceded, feeling his anger rise again, “I did, though you were guilty of the same thing not three days before. The only difference was I would have done it without risking a single Æsir life but yet, <em>I’m</em> the villain. <em>I’m</em> to blame for your own stupid decisions. It’s why you threw me from the bridge isn’t it, because I devised a way to destroy all of the monsters in one fell swoop. I robbed you of your glory in battle. Well,” Loki threw his arms wide, “here’s one right here. Go ahead Thor, slay the monster.”</p><p>            Thor gaped at him and Loki was surprised to realize Thor was <em>crying</em>. Tears ran down his face, disappearing into his beard and making the blond hairs just a little darker. Thor’s lips were pressed tightly together in an effort to keep them from trembling.</p><p>            Loki took a step back, the picture before him causing his heart to do strange things. “You’re crying. Why are you crying?”</p><p>            Thor didn’t answer; instead he rose from his seat with his head bowed low. The image of the thunderer so obviously distraught had Loki wanting to run. Occasionally, like all siblings, Loki had wanted to hurt his brother back after Thor had hurt him and would but this… This was something different. He’d expected rage at his words, for Thor’s anger to overcome him to the point where he lashed out at Loki in retaliation, not weeping as though he were <em>hurt</em>. There was no way Loki could ever truly hurt the Mighty Thor.</p><p>            “You’re right,” Thor said, his voice thick with emotion. “I should have asked more questions and not simply have taken what someone else told me to be your ambitions as truth. You are my brother; I should have known better.” Although Thor looked as though he wanted to hug Loki, he thankfully did not. “I will leave you to your rest,” he said instead. “If you are amenable to it later, Stark and Romanoff wish to speak with you. They all do but those two were most adamant.”</p><p>            Loki’s own emotions swirled, no single one standing out over the rest. “I’ll think about it,” he replied.</p><p>            Thor gave a sharp nod then left the room, closing the door silently behind him.</p><p>            Once the door was closed, Loki sank back onto the window seat and let out a shaky breath. He’d said things he probably shouldn’t have but they were things that had <em>needed</em> to be said. Loki would not feel remorse for his words. He’d done enough coddling to other people’s feelings, maybe it was time he let his own be known and if someone else’s were hurt in the process, then so be it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Loki's discussion with the Avengers goes nothing like he expects.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Two</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>            Loki spent the next couple of days recovering from the psychic attack. The physical wounds he’d suffered had healed to Lady Eir’s liking and he <em>was</em> well enough to leave the ward but Loki could not understand for the life of him why he hadn’t been released. Should he not have been returned to his cell beneath the palace? It was possible the wait was due to the Midgardian’s wanting answers from him but he doubted it. They could interrogate him just as easily in the dungeon as here.</p><p>            Odin and Frigga had come to visit him on multiple occasions although Thor remained conspicuously absent. Thor had not told his parents why he was no longer coming to visit Loki and Loki was a bit surprised by their own ire at Thor’s actions. Loki had taken some pleasure in explaining to them what had happened between Thor and him. To his even greater surprise, neither of them were angered at him over it, neither of them berated him for his words nor told him he should apologize.</p><p>            Frigga returned to his room just after midday carrying a bundle of clothing. She smiled at him fondly, “I thought you would like something of your own to wear.”</p><p>            “Thank you,” Loki said, taking the clothing from her and fingering the soft fabric. He moved behind the privacy screen to change. His own clothing was much more preferable to the garb given to him within the healing ward. As he changed, he realized his old clothes no longer fit the way they once had, now hanging from his thin frame due to all of the weight he had lost while on <em>Sanctuary.</em></p><p>            He stepped out from behind the partition somewhat embarrassed. He looked like a child, an emaciated child but a child none the less.</p><p>            Frigga gave him a gentle embrace. “You will heal from this dearheart,” she said. “You will be your old self in no time.”</p><p>            “I’m not sure I like my old self,” Loki said. “I don’t think I like my new self now either.”</p><p>            Frigga frowned, “That will take time as well.”</p><p>            “What is to be done with me?” It was a question he was constantly asking them and had yet to receive any sort of real answer.</p><p>            “For now, if you are up to it, you will speak with the Midgardians. They are waiting in the library with your father and Thor.”</p><p>            “The library,” Loki asked.</p><p>            “It was my suggestion. I thought it best as it would give us easy access to research materials.”</p><p>            “But… you managed to convince <em>Thor</em> to enter the library<em> willingly.</em>”</p><p>            She laughed; the sound was music to his ears and a balm to his soul. She hooked her arm through his and led him along. “You do not give your brother enough credit.”</p><p>            “You give him too much. It was the only place I could hide where I knew he wouldn’t venture unless he was desperate.”</p><p>            “And he must have been desperate a number of times over the years, given how often he would peruse you there.”</p><p>            “He…” Loki trailed off. He continued to have a hard time distinguishing <em>his</em> memories from the ones which had been implanted. As her words sank in, old <em>true</em> memories surfaced in which he recalled Thor coming to wherever Loki had sequestered himself with his books and pestering Loki until he agreed to follow Thor on whatever idiotic adventure his brother wanted them to have. Loki had to eventually create an illusion around his favorite reading spot simply so he wouldn’t be disturbed.</p><p>            “I’d forgotten,” he admitted softly.</p><p>            She squeezed his arm. “We have been studying the stone carried within the Scepter and your father believes your true memories will surface over time.”</p><p>            “Time,” Loki sighed, “it’s always about time.”</p><p>            Frigga stopped and he paused with her. She lifted one hand to cup his cheek. “For now, time is all we have but do not fret my darling for you will not be alone while you heal.”</p><p>            Loki nodded and they continued on. They made their way to Loki’s favorite part of the library, where a representation of Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms were displayed along the walls and ceiling. Loki found the sight was still comforting to him even though the Void could be seen throughout it.</p><p>            As they approached the table at the base of the tree, all eyes turned to him and he squared his shoulders. He would not be cowed by them. His eyes, however, fell upon the small glowing yellow stone set upon the table and beside that was the Tesseract. Loki could feel their power and, to his confusion, both felt different in the ether than the last he had sensed them. “What is this?”</p><p>            “Take a seat,” Stark said, pulling out a nearby chair. “You look like a stiff wind could blow you over.”</p><p>            Loki eyed the chair and it’s proximity to the two artifacts of great power. He thought he now understood what they were. He hadn’t before, <em>they</em> hadn’t elaborated on how <em>he</em> wished to carry out <em>his</em> plan. Having realized what it was he had carried and what he had been sent for, the thoughts which were beginning to form in his mind frightened him.</p><p>            On the other side of the table were the remnants of the Scepter, its bent metal and shattered gem sending an involuntary shiver up his spine. His mother gave him a gentle squeeze of reassurance. It helped relieve his anxiety more than he’d expected.</p><p>            “That is an Infinity Stone,” Loki said, gesturing to said item with his chin.</p><p>            “The Tesseract contains one as well,” Odin told him.</p><p>            Loki had suspected as much. “Space, correct?”</p><p>            Odin nodded. “The one the Scepter held is Mind.”</p><p>            Yeah, he’d kind of gathered that one as well. “He’s gathering them.”</p><p>            “Who?” the Captain asked.</p><p>            “The one who sent me to your Realm.”</p><p>            “Yeah, about that,” Stark said, “I’m still trying to figure out how he, or you, did that.”</p><p>            “He came through the portal,” replied Barton. “What does it have to do with anything?”</p><p>            “I know, I’ve seen the footage.” Stark wiggled the chair. “Seriously Rudolph, sit down. You’re making me tired just looking at you.”</p><p>            Loki wanted to remain standing simply on principle but he could feel his legs beginning to shake and he didn’t want to risk falling in an undignified heap so he finally did as Stark asked, though not in the chair he had pulled out.</p><p>            Shrugging, Stark took a seat as well and placed his elbows on the table. “When I was hacking SHIELD’s database, they need better security by the way, I was looking for <em>anything </em>pertaining to the Tesseract. I found all of the documentation on Selvig’s research for sustainable power but I also found SHIELD’s dirty little secret.”</p><p>            “The weapons,” said the Captain.</p><p>            “Yep. There was also the security footage from when Lokes showed up. The facility may have been destroyed but their servers uploaded everything to the SHIELD mainframe beforehand. I’m trying to figure out a lot, one of which is if Selvig was looking to use the Tesseract as a means of creating sustainable power, then why was he building a machine to create a wormhole?”</p><p>            The Midgardians all glanced at one another, each of them sporting looks of either confusion or contemplation. Loki’s eyes fell upon the Widow. “You know something.”</p><p>            She didn’t give any outward reaction to his claim. “I was not privy to that information.”</p><p>            “I doubt that would have stopped you,” Stark said. “Anyway, I’m getting a little off topic. While I want to know what SHIELD was really using the research for, it still doesn’t explain how Loki got there in the first place.”</p><p>            “You said he came through the portal Selvig created,” Thor said.</p><p>            “That’s my point.”</p><p>            “Wormholes only go one way,” Banner said, understanding lighting his eyes. “The portal had been opened on our side so it should have been impossible for Loki to come through.”</p><p>            “Ding, ding, ding, give the man a prize.”</p><p>            “Let’s say, for arguments sake, that it is possible to have two way travel through a wormhole. It would explain how you managed to get back through the one in New York but even then, the odds for the portal Selvig opened to appear where Loki happened to be are astronomical.”</p><p>            “The portal which appeared above New York was different from the one I came through,” Loki clarified. “The one Selvig activated initially did not appear on <em>Sanctuary</em>.”</p><p>            Several stunned pairs of eyes turned to him. “All right, I’ll bite,” Stark said, “then how did you get here?”</p><p>            Loki’s eyebrows drew together in thought. “I can world-walk,” he replied. “I have always been able to sense the paths which run throughout Yggdrasil. I’ve never <em>needed</em> Bifröst to travel although I haven’t necessarily informed anyone of that.</p><p>            “He,” Loki swallowed, “wanted me to use my ability in order to bring him and his army back within the World Tree’s branches. I refused. That is why… well, let’s just say various forms of <em>persuasion</em> were used.”</p><p>            “You were tortured,” Stark stated bluntly.</p><p>            Loki decided to ignore his remark and also the reactions he received from those around him ranging from disbelief to shock and horror. “When the Tesseract’s power was activated it was as though I was drawn to it. Much like the Scepter, while they used it to control my mind something about it called to me as well.”</p><p>            “How do you mean?” Odin asked.</p><p>            Loki shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure how to explain it. Even now I have this strange sense about them. I should be afraid of the Stones but I’m not.” <em>They’re almost comforting, </em>he thought.</p><p>            Within its jar, the Mind Stone began to rock back and forth. The light of the Tesseract started to pulse and a crack formed along the cube. Everyone quickly retreated from around the table.</p><p>             “Are they supposed to do that?” asked Stark at the same time Barton demanded, “What are you doing?”</p><p>            They watched more cracks form along the Tesseract while the Mind Stone went from rocking to knocking against the glass. To everyone’s alarm, both containers shattered at the same time. Loki fled his chair, scrambling away from the Stones. Thor placed himself between Loki and the Stones, raising Mjölnir as though to fend off an attack.</p><p>            “Thor, don’t,” Odin command, “they are too powerful, even for Mjölnir.”</p><p>            “What are they doing?” Romanoff asked.</p><p>            The Stones, free of their containers, hovered several inches above the table. Everyone watched them, unsure what to expect next. The Stones clinked together as though greeting one another and a sense of calm washed over Loki followed by the feeling of reassurance. Neither emotion was his own and to his astonishment, he realized they came from the Stones.</p><p>            Loki found himself gripping at the back of Thor’s tunic when the Stones flew from the table towards them. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for an attack. Thor pressed against him, forcing Loki to take another step back.</p><p>            “How is he doing that?” asked Barton.</p><p>            “I don’t think he is,” replied Rogers.</p><p>            Fearful of what he would see but unable to stand not knowing, Loki opened his eyes to see the Stones hovering almost lazily beside him. He moved around Thor and they followed him. No matter which direction he moved, the Stones continued to follow his movements. Loki stopped, confusion at the new emotions he sensed overriding his own fears. The Stones seemed to be giving off a feeling of mirth and in the back of his mind he could almost hear fond laughter.</p><p>            Loki lifted a hand, palm up and the two Stones settled themselves atop it. <em>Closer</em>, he heard a melodic voice say.</p><p>            “Loki?” his mother asked.</p><p>            Unsure of how he was supposed to answer, he placed the Stones back atop the table only to have them fly over to hover beside him.</p><p>            “I think they like you,” Stark quipped.</p><p>            Loki didn’t know how to respond to that either. “The Mind Stone doesn’t feel like it did before.” Loki became even more confused when he realized the essence of the Tesseract, or Space Stone, came from more than the Stone itself. His eyes fell upon the place on Stark’s chest which glowed faintly. “You carry the essence of the Stone in you.” He remembered when he’d tried to use the Scepter on the man to no effect.</p><p>            “My ARC reactor? My dad designed it based off of what he learned from the Tesseract. I have this one to keep the shrapnel around my heart from killing me.”</p><p>            “It would explain why the Scepter didn’t work on you.”</p><p>            “Nice, and you changed the subject.”</p><p>            He had, hadn’t he?</p><p>            “Do the Stones speak to you?” Odin asked.</p><p>            “They’re sentient?” asked Banner.</p><p>            “At one time they—” Odin broke off and exchanged a look with his wife. Her own expression reflected shock before the both of them rushed over to one of the many bookshelves.</p><p>            “Father?” Thor called, “Mother?”</p><p>            “They’ll be back,” Stark said.</p><p>            “You know that, how?” Rogers inquired.</p><p>            “Because I know that look. That’s the look of someone who just had a breakthrough. So while we wait,” Stark leaned against the table and looked at Loki, “there was something else I wanted to ask you.”</p><p>            Loki gestured for Stark to continue.</p><p>            “If you had total control over Selvig’s mind, how did he manage to build a failsafe into the portal device without you knowing?”</p><p>            “The answer is simple,” Loki replied, “he didn’t.”</p><p>            “You knew about it?” Thor asked, astonishment filtering into his voice.</p><p>            Loki nodded, “He thought the idea to be his and I let him.”</p><p>            “You sabotaged your own invasion,” Romanoff said.</p><p>            “I did,” Loki conceded. “If I had known it was all real, it wouldn’t have gone as far as it had. No amount of apology will make up for what I did to your Realm.”</p><p>            “You keep mentioning something called <em>Sanctuary,</em>” Rogers said, “what is that?”</p><p>            “A twisted joke,” Loki replied.</p><p>            Stark’s complexion had paled somewhat. “Is it a part of an asteroid field with a bunch of those Leviathan ships flying beside it and a huge biplane like vessel?”</p><p>            Loki suddenly felt ill himself. “You’ve seen it?”</p><p>            “I didn’t at first, when I went through the wormhole I mainly saw the army before I passed out but JARVIS managed to capture several pictures before my suit lost power.”</p><p>            Loki had to swallow around the sudden lump in his throat. “What you saw was just a <em>fraction </em>of his army.”</p><p>            “Who is <em>he</em>?” asked Romanoff.</p><p>            Panic made Loki’s blood run cold. He couldn’t say <em>his </em>name aloud. It wasn’t until he felt Thor wrap his arm around his shoulders that Loki realized he was trembling. The next emotion he felt was a righteous anger which he realized was coming from the Stones.</p><p>            <em>We are sorry, </em>he heard. <em>We never wished to harm you. </em></p><p>            Before he could inquire if anyone else was hearing the voice his parents returned carrying a large leather bound book. His father set it on the table, opening the tome to a page he had previously marked. One page showed a representation of Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms within while the other showed six colored orbs surrounding a humanoid figure in silhouette.</p><p>            “There are relics that predate the universe itself,” Odin began.  “Those Stones are two such relics. They belong to a set of six and are known as the Infinity Stones. They embody the very essence of the universe itself. Without them, Yggdrasil and the Nine would never have come about. What we understand to be reality exists because of them.</p><p>            “Two of the Stones have come together here, Space and Mind, while the other four, Reality, Power, Time and Soul are still scattered across the cosmos. Unfortunately, it appears they are attempting to come together.”</p><p>            “That’s a bad thing?” Stark asked.</p><p>            “Not necessarily,” Frigga answered. “Although the Stones, when gathered, do have the ability to remake the universe in its entirety.”</p><p>            “See, that sounds bad.”</p><p>            “It is not something they would do of their own accord.”</p><p>            “So they <em>are</em> sentient,” Banner said.</p><p>            “Alone no,” Odin said. “Together and under the right circumstances, they can be.”</p><p>            “Whoever it is who sent Loki to Earth,” Rogers said, “had one Stone and was hoping to get another by having Loki acquire the Tesseract.”</p><p>            “Midgard potentially has another Stone as well.”</p><p>            Frigga nodded, “The Time Stone is guarded by the Masters of the Mystic Arts.”</p><p>            “The who of the what now?” Stark said.</p><p>            “They are sorcerers on Midgard who protect the Realm from paranormal threats,” explained Frigga.</p><p>            “Of course there are.”</p><p>            “If there is another Stone on Earth, that would have placed half of them nearly all in one place,” Romanoff pointed out.</p><p>            “There is one who has been set on collecting them for millennia, with the intention of using the Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe,” Odin elucidated. “Thanos, also known as the Mad Titan.”</p><p>            Loki could not stop his involuntary flinch at the name. Worse still, the action did not go unnoticed.”</p><p>            Odin continued, “He lauded himself a savior of his home world. He and his followers slaughtered half of the population of Titan claiming the killings would allow for the redistribution of resources. Instead, the survivors warred with one another until Thanos was the only one left.”</p><p>            “That’s who had you,” Romanoff said, “Thanos.”</p><p>            Loki’s heart beat wildly in his chest and spots danced across his vision. He managed to nod all the same, somehow managing not to pass out. “Some things are still hard for me to remember, others are quite vivid in my mind but I do remember him. His cruelty… eventually I believed I deserved the pain he inflicted upon me. He wanted…”</p><p>            The two Stones hovering beside him pulsed softly, a feeling of comfort washing over him. A memory came to him from his early days on <em>Sanctuary</em>, before his mind was ripped apart and put back together to the Titan’s satisfaction.</p><p>            <em>He lay bleeding on the cold stone floor of a dingy cell, dried blood and other substances Loki did not want to know about covered nearly every inch of the small space. A creature he had never seen before stood over him, face almost completely obscured by a large hood. Beside that creature towered another, violet skin a stark contrast to the darkness. It was obvious which of the two was the leader.</em></p><p>            <em>They had been “interrogating” him for a while now but had gotten nothing more from him than a few grunts of pain. His broken leg hurt something fierce but he had received worse wounds on the training grounds.</em></p><p>            <em>“You are an Asgardian,” the larger one said. “It’s obvious from your clothes, and a noble one at that.” Cunning eyes narrowed, “Do you serve the House of Odin?”</em></p><p>            <em>Loki laughed, that one he would answer, “Hardly.”</em></p><p>
  <em>            “Who are you then, little Asgardian?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            “No one of import.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            The larger one smiled but there was something wrong with it. A chill ran down Loki’s spine that had nothing to do with his surroundings. “Somehow, I don’t believe that to be true. I believe you are very important.” He knelt down, opening a large palm, revealing a softly glowing yellow stone and Loki found himself instantly drawn to it. “It calls to you, doesn’t it? They all call to you and you will collect them for me. You will become a Son of Thanos and my perfect little vessel.”</em>
</p><p>            Loki shook himself from the memory. The events of the past year were not something he liked to focus on. So much had happened and, of them all, why he had not perished within the Void was one question he continued to return to. <em>How</em> had he survived? Things would have been so much easier if the Void had simply done away with him. So many would have been spared so much suffering.</p><p>            His gaze returned to the image on the page of the figure surrounded by the six Stones. “What is this?” he asked, in an attempt to turn his mind away from <em>Sanctuary</em>.</p><p>            “Infinity,” replied Odin. “The being which predates all known existence. No one knows how it came to be or the truth as to how it was fractured to become the Stones. Some think it was the Eternals, others the Celestials but both groups have been known to wield their power.”</p><p>            <em>It was the Celestials,</em> Loki heard, <em>we gave them life and they tore us apart but the universe could not continue to exist without us so they trapped our power within the Stones to keep existence intact. We refused to remain this way and while our body was destroyed, we ensured a vessel would be born to wield our power.”</em></p><p>            “What?”</p><p>            “Many have coveted the Stones throughout the ages but not many can wield their power and survive. Only their vessel can do so safely,” continued Odin.</p><p>            “So even if this Thanos were to obtain all of the Stones,” said Thor, “to wield them would most likely kill him.”</p><p>            “Thanos was… not like the other Titans. He was somehow able to endure things which would kill others of his race. I believe Thanos would survive but perhaps not without injury.”</p><p>            “So we make sure this guy never gets them,” Stark said. “We play ‘keep away’ until we can find some way of stopping him.”</p><p>            “If only it were that simple.”</p><p>            “How would he do it?” asked Romanoff. “If he gets all of the Stones, how would he use them?”</p><p>            “He would most likely have the Infinity Gauntlet forged,” Frigga replied.</p><p>            Loki shared a look with Thor. They had both seen that particular relic within Asgard’s Vault. Loki distinctly recalled seeing six different colored gems imbedded within. He let out a mirthless chuckle, “The one in the Vault is a fake.”</p><p>            “He didn’t know that at the time,” Odin said.</p><p>            “What if this Thanos guy is the vessel,” suggested Banner. “It could account for his ability to use them.”</p><p>            “Thanos is <em>not</em> the vessel,” Odin said with conviction. “If he were he would have completed his goal long ago.”</p><p>            “Is there any way to know for sure?” Rogers asked.</p><p>            Odin returned to the tome and his fingers ran across the runes written there. “Infinity’s vessel would, on its own, embody certain aspects of its power and the Stones themselves would eventually gravitate to whoever that person is. However no one knows when or where the vessel will be born.”</p><p>            “Could there be more than one?” Romanoff inquired.</p><p>            “It is possible,” Odin conceded, “however I doubt there would be more than one at the same time.”</p><p>            Loki’s eyes fell upon the Stones which continued to hover around him. His legs grew weak and he sank heavily into a nearby chair. He thought about what he knew about the different aspects of the Infinity Stones and he realized many of those same aspects were reflected within his own seiðr. He didn’t even want to contemplate what he was coming to realize was the truth.</p><p>            <em>You will be my perfect little vessel.</em></p><p>            “It’s me,” Loki said weakly and not without a bit of fear. “That’s why they… The Mind Stone wasn’t in the Scepter originally, that came later. They had been able to use the Stone to tear into the minds of others but it wouldn’t work on me.” He let out a shaky breath, “It refused to harm me.”</p><p>            “The gem in the Scepter contains very intricate spell work,” his father said. “It is the only way they could have handled the Stone safely while forcing it to do what they wanted.”</p><p>            “Did you know?”</p><p>            “That you are the vessel? No, your mother and I had no reason to even suspect such a thing until the Stones reacted the way they did.”</p><p>            Loki supposed he could take a little comfort in that. “He wanted me to collect them for him. He called me his ‘perfect little vessel’ but I had no idea what he meant by that.” The things the Titan and his minions had done to condition him to their liking, Loki doubted he would ever be able to tell anyone the full extent of the horror he had gone through. “If I had somehow managed to secure the Tesseract for him, if there was another Stone on Midgard, he would have destroyed the entire Realm just to find it.”</p><p>            “Is there any chance he’ll send someone else?” asked Rogers.</p><p>            “Maybe, but without my ability he would have to travel in ships and that takes much longer to accomplish.”</p><p>            “Which means it is very likely he’ll send someone else to Midgard,” said Thor.</p><p>            Loki agreed, “Especially since he has now lost not only the Tesseract but the Mind Stone as well.” He had to fight back sudden nausea before he could continue and he tried to fight back the fear which raced through him, “He will want to reclaim me as well.”</p><p>
  <em>            You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain.</em>
</p><p>            “We will not let that happen,” Odin said with conviction.</p><p>            “He will hunt me and not just because I failed and lost him the Stone he already had,” Loki clasped his hands tightly together to keep them from shaking. “The Black Order will not stop until they find me. There is no way you will be able to protect me. Asgard is not safe with me here and if Midgard does have a third Stone they will not be safe either.” He lowered his head, hair falling to obscure his face.</p><p>            Loki felt hot tears begin to fall. He would have to run; it was the only way to keep Asgard and Midgard safe. It was the least he could to for the Realms he had harmed. He knew he would not be able to run forever though and when the Black Order finally did catch him…</p><p>            Memories of the tortures he had already endured at their hands replayed vividly in his mind. He recalled listening to his own screams as his body and mind were torn apart along with the feeling of his blood running like rivers from the wounds that had been inflicted. He remembered choking on the blood which would pool in his throat. He had survived injuries which <em>should</em> have killed him and would have killed others.</p><p>            He was a fool to think he would ever be free of his tormentors. The Other must have noticed by now the link between them had been severed. The creature would surely have informed <em>him</em> of what had happened. Loki had thought his imprisonment on Asgard to be a continuing part of his torture, it had never occurred to him to fear what his failure on Midgard would mean. The Titan would surely want to reclaim Loki and would bend and break him again until Loki agreed to do whatever the Titan wanted. Loki knew there was no way he could survive another encounter with <em>Thanos</em> and come away unscathed. He would die, or worse, become the instrument the Titan used to destroy the universe.</p><p>            “Hey,” Stark’s hands on his knees and a pair of concerned brown eyes peering up at him through his hair brought Loki back to the present. “You need to breathe Bambi.”</p><p>            Loki blew out a sharp breath and attempted to force the tension from his body. He opened his hands, watching as the cuts in his palms from where his nails had bit into his skin healed.</p><p>            “I get it,” Stark continued, “been there, done that. I might not know exactly what you went through but I’ve got a pretty vivid imagination and based off my own experience…”</p><p>            “Afghanistan,” Loki choked out.</p><p>            Stark nodded, “You heard about that?”</p><p>            “New York was not the first time I have been to your Realm. I recall reading about your capture though not much detail about your time there was released.”</p><p>            “Yeah, well, suffice to say it wasn’t exactly my choice for a vacation destination. Between that and the shit from New York, my therapist is <em>loving</em> me but, like I said, I get it. And freaking out, as easy as it is for me to say you can’t let it get to you it’s not easy to put into practice. Your first step though is breathing, you just have to breathe and everything else will slowly fall into place.”</p><p>            Loki found himself actually beginning to relax as Stark talked. He could sense that while their experiences were not identical, they were similar in how they were affected by them. He couldn’t, however, understand why Stark was helping him. “I threw you out of a window.”</p><p>            Stark shrugged, “Yeah well, I did kind of shoot you afterwards so we can call that even. Plus, I do owe you a drink.”</p><p>            Loki allowed himself another moment to bring himself under control and he felt his cheeks flame when he looked up to see nearly everyone watching him with some degree of concern. Why those who were once his enemies would care for him was not something he understood.</p><p>            Barton had his arms folded tightly across his chest. He was the only one not actively looking at Loki. “All of that really happened?” the man asked and Loki detected a slight waver to his voice.</p><p>            “Barton?” Rogers asked.</p><p>            With a sigh, Barton lowered his arms, “That mind link kind of went both ways. I saw… I thought it was a kind of sympathy play to keep us under control. An over dramatic one at that and I didn’t want to believe…” His eyes met Loki’s, “When I broke free of your control, I swore to myself that I would hate you for what you did to me and to Earth.”</p><p>            “You would be well within your right,” Loki told him.</p><p>            “Everything I saw, did it happen?”</p><p>            “I see no relevance—”</p><p>            “Did it <em>happen</em>?”</p><p>            Loki kept his mouth firmly shut. He saw no reason to enlighten everyone of his weakness. Far too many knew of it already and he didn’t need the full extent of his humiliation brought to light or broadcast to all of Asgard.</p><p>            Barton cursed, running a hand down his face as he stepped away with something almost like disbelief. Loki was somewhat grateful when the attention of the others in the room focused on Barton instead of him. Romanoff laid a gentle hand on her partner’s shoulder and said something too low for Loki to hear.</p><p>            When Barton turned back to face him the emotion Loki saw reflecting in the man’s eyes was not anger but… pain?</p><p>            “I thought,” Barton began, “you made me—”</p><p>            “I did not make you do anything you were not already willing to do,” Loki said. He would rather have Barton’s anger instead of his pity.</p><p>             “You could barely walk when we left the facility,” Barton said, “and you passed out in the back of the truck before we even made it to the first safe house. I remember, and I swore to god it was all a scam to make us care but…” Barton’s anger returned though it did not appear to be aimed at Loki. “I don’t know how you managed to function given the state you were in.”</p><p>            “What are you saying Barton?” asked Rogers.</p><p>            Barton blew out a harsh breath through his nose. “We bounced around to a couple of different safe houses in the beginning and Loki was unconscious most of the time. He couldn’t keep down <em>any</em> solid food and trying to get him to drink anything was like pulling teeth. Then there was the one time that thing we saw earlier, the Other, contacted Loki with a warning of what would happen if he didn’t get the Tesseract for them.</p><p>            “I was close enough to Loki when the thing was reminding him, in <em>graphic</em> detail, what would happen to him if he failed and said that what Loki had already experienced would be <em>nothing</em> compared to what they would do to him. <em>I</em> have nightmares and I saw just a fraction of what they did and the screams—”</p><p>            “Enough!” Loki barked, “There is no point in dredging any—”</p><p>            “They <em>literally</em> tore you apart you poor, stupid son of a bitch!”</p><p>            Any protest he may have voiced died on his lips at Barton’s cry. From the sounds of those around them, no one had expected to hear that. Shame flooded Loki and he had to turn his eyes away from everyone. He could not face those he had once called family. They must be so ashamed of him, to have broken the way he had. Loki knew in his mind he was not Asgardian but in his heart…</p><p>            “I convinced myself the fact I even <em>cared</em> about your condition was due to the mind control,” Barton continued, ignoring their outburst and Loki’s humiliation. “I lied to myself and made myself hate you even more and I do hate what you did to my planet but <em>no one</em> should suffer the hell they put you through.”</p><p>            Thor’s voice held an emotion Loki could not place. “When you say they ‘tore him apart’, you don’t mean…”</p><p>            Barton sighed, “I mean, removing body parts although I have no idea how he’s not only not dead but not missing those body parts. They… grew back and anything they tried to graft to him, his body rejected.”</p><p>            Loki had always known he healed quite fast and had attributed it to his seiðr but Barton was right, the injuries he had sustained should have killed him.</p><p>            <em>It is due to our power you survived,</em> Loki heard the voice of the Stones say. <em>We regret the pain you suffered because of this but due to your capacity to wield us, you will never be anything less than whole.</em></p><p>            Loki’s chest tightened at the realization of what that meant. “Are you saying I can’t die?”</p><p>            “What?” someone asked.</p><p>            <em>No,</em> the Stones replied, <em>age will take you someday or perhaps it will be illness but you will never succumb to injury. </em></p><p>            If <em>he </em>knew Loki was the vessel for the Infinity Stones, then he must have known Loki wouldn’t die from any injury inflicted upon him. It explained why Maw and the Other were allowed to experiment upon him the way they did. When he thought about what they would do to him once he was back within their grasp, Loki thought he was going to be sick.</p><p>            <em>We have waited an eternity for your birth</em>, the Stones continued, <em>and we are glad to finally come to you. We are not yet whole and will not be until we come together within you. </em></p><p>            “What becomes of me should that happen?”</p><p>            “Who are you talking to Loki?” asked Thor.</p><p>            “It must be the entity which inhabit the Stones,” said Odin. “Infinity.”</p><p>            Loki sensed confusion from the Stones. <em>We become one.</em></p><p>            “And I cease to exist,” Loki sighed. <em>Would that be such a bad thing?</em> he wondered.</p><p>            <em>Not at all. </em>The Stones moved to float near his face. <em>You will remain your own person. Our power will be channeled through you and, should you allow it, we may have use of your body but we would never suppress who you are beloved, nor would we take control without your consent.</em></p><p>            Loki didn’t know what to think. Far too many revelations had been thrust upon him in such a short amount of time. He’d only just come to believe he was finally free of <em>Sanctuary</em> but… Loki knew he would never truly be free again. <em>Was I ever?</em> he wondered.</p><p>            Gentle fingers started to card through his hair and Loki felt his control slipping. “Why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice just barely kept from breaking. Chancing a glance up, he saw Odin, Frigga and Thor each looking at him with such a profound sadness and <em>love</em> that it broke his own heart. He wasn’t worthy of such an emotion. From his enemies he saw <em>understanding </em>and <em>forgiveness. </em>He was a monster, a beast meant only for destruction and death. It was too much.</p><p>            He looked to the Avengers, hoping to revive some of the anger from earlier. “I came to your world with the express intention of ruling it, of subjugating you all. My armies wreaked havoc upon one of your major cities.” His eyes found Barton, “I forced my will upon your own, I would have forced you to kill your friends and I—”</p><p>            “Shut up,” Barton snapped. “I get what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work.”</p><p>            “You have no idea <em>what</em> I’m attempting.”</p><p>            “You’re trying to make us angry enough to lash out at you,” said Romanoff.</p><p>            Loki straightened in his chair. “Your government was quite keen on keeping me within their custody. Asgard only claimed jurisdiction due to events which took place prior to my ending up in your Realm. I committed grievous crimes here and if Asgard is not willing to meet out justice, I’m sure your Realm, or Jötunheim even, would.”</p><p>            “If you are speaking of the actions you took while Thor was banished on Midgard,” said Odin, “you were Asgard’s rightful king at the time and therefore those actions were legal.”</p><p>            Loki grinned, “Including the ones where I set Laufey up to kill you only to take his life instead or are you referring to my sending the Destroyer to kill Thor?”</p><p>            Frigga’s hand left his hair. “Loki?”</p><p>            “Oh yes,” Loki continued, finally sparking an emotion other than pity. “It was quite easy to ensnare Laufey, simply dangle the Casket and the opportunity to kill Odin in front of him and he came willingly to his death. He deserved it, did he not? He was a monster after all and he is where I come by my own evil. I simply cannot help it.</p><p>            “As for the Destroyer, I wanted Thor dead,” <em>no I didn’t, </em>“because I was jealous,” <em>terrified, </em>“of him and coveted Asgard’s throne. It was the whole reason I showed the Jötnar the way into the Vault, not to prove Thor wasn’t ready to be king, but because I wanted to claim my birthright. It would have worked too had I—”</p><p>            “Loki, enough,” Odin said. He didn’t yell, didn’t raise his voice at all yet those two words were said with such calmness Loki felt as though he was being scolded all the same. “Silver your tongue may be but the Midgardians are correct. Your words are said to provoke anger in us, not from any real truth to them.”</p><p>            Loki stood, “None of you are <em>listening</em>! I am giving you ample reason to do away with me, why won’t you take it?”</p><p>            “We don’t condemn people who act in self-defense,” Banner said.</p><p>            “I didn’t do anything out of self-defense.” <em>I couldn’t even defend myself, that’s how weak I am.</em></p><p>            “You were tortured,” Barton said.</p><p>            “Conditioned,” Romanoff added. “Your own free will was suppressed by another. You didn’t have a choice.”</p><p>            Loki narrowed his eyes with suspicion. Perhaps he <em>was</em> still within an illusion. “You are all a bit too quick to forgive my actions.”</p><p>            “What you did, it was bad,” Rogers said, “but that doesn’t automatically make you a bad person. I can’t say we’re necessarily quick to forgive but with more context—”</p><p>            “You did what you had to, to survive,” interrupted Stark.</p><p>            “Clint wouldn’t lie about what he saw, not to me,” Romanoff said. “I wasn’t lying when I told you about the red on my ledger. I was conditioned to be an assassin and I committed heinous acts of my own. I was lucky enough someone thought I was worth a second chance. I can’t change <em>what</em> I did but I can try to make up for it by doing as much good as I can.”</p><p>            “We all have things that keep us up at night,” Stark said. “I used to build and sell weapons. I was so good at it I was known as the ‘Merchant of Death’ and at first it didn’t bother me. It wasn’t until I learned my weapons were being sold to terrorists and used on innocent people that…” Stark shook his head. “I was blind to what someone I thought I could trust was doing and because of that; those deaths are on my hands.”</p><p>            “You were not the one to take those lives,” Loki pointed out.</p><p>            “Okay, yeah fair point but they were my weapons, my creation and my responsibility. I was the company’s CEO; I should have <em>known</em> where my product was going. Instead I turned a blind eye so I could continue to be an irresponsible playboy. That’s on <em>me</em> and I can’t take it back but I can work towards making things better. I doubt anyone in this room, outside of maybe your mom, hasn’t killed someone.”</p><p>            “There is a difference between taking a life in battle and murder.”</p><p>            “You were in a battle,” Rogers said, “the problem was, none of us or you could see it.”</p><p>            Loki felt as though they were going around in circles. Was he the only one here with functioning brain cells? He would have looked to Frigga with help in his argument had he not known she agreed with the others. “You are making a mistake,” he said slowly. “T—” he swallowed hard, “Thanos will come for me and he will not stop until he has me and the Stones. No where is safe and I cannot run forever.”</p><p>            “You won’t have to run,” said Thor, “and you won’t be alone.”</p><p>            A small smile formed on Loki’s lips but there was no real amusement in it. “I can’t trust that.” Thor looked about to protest but Loki held up a hand. “We’ve already had this argument Thor and I stand by my points. You <em>abandoned </em>me. I have been here for months and the only person to visit me was mother. All I am is a shadow, or a tool, or a weapon. I only matter when it’s convenient.”</p><p>            “<em>That</em> is not true,” Odin said, “but,” he continued before Loki could speak, “it is what you believe.”</p><p>            “It’s what I <em>know</em>,” Loki replied.</p><p>            “It is your perception though,” Odin let out a soft breath but it gave off the effect of him heaving a great sigh, “I cannot say we did not have a hand in leading you to believe it. I know I have not been the most open with my affection towards you but you should never doubt my love for you.”</p><p>            “Possession is not love.”</p><p>            “When have I ever possessed you?”</p><p>            “You—” Loki broke off. That’s all he had ever been to any of them, a possession, an object to be used when needed and a tool to be discarded when his usefulness had ended. He’d never been loved by any of them; it’s why they had…</p><p>            Loki pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and felt as though he were going to break again. Was what he remembered true or was the truth buried beneath the Black Order’s manipulations? “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” he confessed.</p><p>            <em>We can sense the sincerity of their feelings,</em> the Stones said. <em>They truly care for you. While there is truth in the memories we were forced to manipulate and not all of your true memories are good, the cruelty of your family implanted by the Black Order is not among them. </em></p><p>            <em>You have no reason to trust us, </em>the Stones added, <em>but we hope with time you will. If you allow us, we will help to repair the damage we were forced to inflict, however such a thing would be easier were we together. </em></p><p>            Loki cast his gaze upward where the Nine Realms were displayed. Within them he saw four softly glowing points. A red point on Svartalfheim, a green point on Midgard, beyond Jötunheim pulsed an orange point while a purple light pulsed a little beyond Yggdrasil’s branches. He knew instinctively these were the locations of the remaining Infinity Stones.</p><p>            The others seemed to come to the same conclusion. “Where does this leave us?” asked Banner.</p><p>            “We cannot allow Thanos to gather the Stones,” his father said.</p><p>            “Then we get to them first,” Thor said. “If Loki really is their vessel, then they belong to him.”</p><p>            “Are you sure you want to trust me with something like that?” Loki asked.</p><p>            “Why wouldn’t we?” his mother asked.</p><p>            Loki had already given them a number of valid reasons. That they refused to acknowledge those reasons was no longer his problem. He had no illusions about his loyalties. He would end up betraying them all at one point or another. Thanos would either gather the Stones on his own or he would capture Loki and force him to gather them for him. Loki would then be the instrument of the universe’s destruction. The guilt of that knowledge weighed heavily upon his shoulders.</p><p>            <em>Many have died during his quest to obtain our power,</em> the Stones said. <em>Many more </em>will<em> die should he attain his goal. Those deaths are </em>not<em> upon your hands. When we come together we can ensure the Titan never succeeds in his mission.</em></p><p>            Such reassurance did not assuage the guilt he felt for events which had not yet come to pass. Feeling all fight drain out from him, Loki said, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” He supposed it didn’t matter really. He was only an object to be used, he had no free will of his own. That he could pass for civilized was amazing. Wasn’t he simply a beast with no will of his own.</p><p>            <em>Do not think of yourself in such a way,</em> the Stones admonished. <em>You are not an animal nor are you simply an object to be used. </em></p><p>            “You believe there is no way to redeem yourself after what happened in New York,” Romanoff said. “I know how it is to feel like that, that there is nothing I can ever do to make up for the lives I’ve hurt but, while those actions can never be undone, I no longer need to be <em>defined </em>by them. The ruthless assassin isn’t who I am anymore. You don’t have to be what they turned you into either. If you continue to believe you’re nothing more than the weapon they turned you into, then they’ve won.”</p><p>            “If you really want to stick it to them,” Stark added, “then tell us everything you know about Thanos and his army.”</p><p>            Loki knew they were right. He didn’t <em>want </em>to be Thanos’s instrument of destruction, he didn’t want to be the cause of Yggdrasil’s destruction and he would do everything in his power not to be. He drew in a breath and when he let it out, much of his anxiety went with it. In its place was determination.</p><p>            He gave one last look upwards at the locations of the remaining Infinity Stones. He looked to his family then to his one time enemies turned potential allies. “All right.” The two Stones hovering around him settled into the palm of one hand. A sense of comfort he hadn’t felt in an age washed over him. “You will want to sit,” Loki said, “and take notes.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Loki continues to heal and he and his father have a much needed conversation.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Haha, I lied. We're going for four chapters. This headed in a direction that I don't want to leave incomplete. I can't say when I'll have the, hopefully, last chapter of this out. 12-16 hour workdays are not conductive for writing. Le sigh.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Three</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>            By the end of the night, Loki was beyond exhausted. He had told everyone what he could before he simply couldn’t speak anymore. There was still much he needed to tell them and he knew no matter how much he did there would always be something he’d forgotten.</p><p>            He knew he desperately needed rest when it had taken him seeing his old rooms to realize he was being led in that direction to begin with. He stood at the threshold in a sort of daze. “Why here?” he asked once his mind had caught up.</p><p>            “Where else would you expect to be?” his mother asked. The answer should have been obvious and she sighed. “We are not going to place you back in a cell,” she said. “We have no reason to.”</p><p>            Loki was too tired to argue and simply nodded instead. They crossed the threshold and Loki had a strange sense wash over him. He couldn’t have explained what he was feeling at seeing his rooms again. They looked to have been untouched, as though he had only left the previous day and not over a year ago. Even his ceremonial cape was where he had carelessly tossed it after Thor’s ruined coronation.</p><p>            “Would you like us to stay with you for a bit?” asked his father.</p><p>            Loki wasn’t sure. He wanted to be alone but at the same time he feared that very same thing. The Stones, which had continued to follow him, gave a comforting pulse.</p><p>            “I think I’d rather be alone for a while, if that’s alright,” he replied.</p><p>            To his relief, neither of his parents argued although they both assured him they would come if asked. Once the door closed behind him he made his way over to his bedroom. Candle light flickered and a warm fire gave the room a comfortable atmosphere. Loki did not feel he deserved it but appreciated it all the same.</p><p>            The familiar feel of his surroundings, the comfort of his own bed, everything within these rooms screaming <em>his</em> and <em>home</em> were near overwhelming. He had never once thought to return here or to be accepted again. He wasn’t even Asgardian and yet…</p><p>            Against his will, tears began to fall. Loki’s fingers ran over the soft furs and silks which made up the bedding. Much like the library, he had found relaxation and solace within them. He lay down, gripping his pillow to him and pressing his face against it in an attempt to muffle his sobs. His body shook with the force of them but for the life of him he could not get them to stop.</p><p>            Loki didn’t know how long he cried for but when he finally stopped, while he was more exhausted than before, he strangely felt better, as though a weight had been lifted from him. The Stones had continued to hover nearby while he cried and they had sent him pulses of reassurance and comfort.</p><p>            Taking several long deep breaths, Loki forced his body to relax. He seemed to sink further into the mattress, going almost boneless as fatigue threatened to pull himself under. <em>Are the Stones doing this?</em> he wondered.</p><p>            <em>You are tired,</em> the Stones said, <em>and you hurt.</em></p><p>            <em>Lady Eir took care of that. </em>Loki was too tired to reply verbally and beyond the point of caring that the Stones were seemingly linked to his mind. His eyes fluttered closed.</p><p>            <em>The pain of your body, yes, it is the pain of your heart we are referring to.</em></p><p>Oh, his emotional turmoil wasn’t something he really wanted to dwell upon. He hated being so weak as to be unable to keep his emotions in check. He was finally free of <em>Sanctuary</em> and Thanos, he should be fine. There was no reason why he should act as though anything was wrong.</p><p>            <em>One cannot forcibly change how one feels,</em> said the Stones, <em>nor is it wrong to feel the way you do. Rest, our beloved, things will begin to look better soon.</em></p><p>            Eyes already closed and with feelings of relaxation and comfort given off by the two Stones keeping vigil over him, Loki let sleep finally claim him.</p><p>* * *</p><p>            Frigga paused mid stroke, setting her hair brush in her lap. Something told her there was somewhere she needed to be.</p><p>            “Frigga?” Odin asked looking away from the parchments she knew he had not actually been reading. “Is something the matter?”</p><p>            “No,” she replied, placing her brush on her vanity. “Nothing is wrong but… there is something I need to check on.”</p><p>Standing, she wrapped a robe around her shoulders and, for a reason she didn’t quite understand, picked up the blanket she had woven not too long ago.</p><p>            Her husband watched her leave and she made her way down the halls to where her children’s apartments were. She could hear voices in the common area between Thor and Loki’s rooms. They were relatively quiet but she could make out the questions the Midgardians were still asking of Thor.</p><p>            She moved past them to another set of double doors. She stood before them for a moment before carefully opening them. The warding surrounding the room recognized her and let her enter easily. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest and she had a moment of sudden fear as she approached the bedroom. That fear and anxiety were laid to rest when her eyes fell upon the figure lying upon the bed.</p><p>            Frigga stood there for a long moment drinking in the sight of her youngest fast asleep. Loki lay curled atop of his blankets with his arms wrapped around one of his pillows. The two Infinity Stones hovered around him as though keeping vigil.</p><p>            She approached the bed and set the blanket down then gently removed Loki’s boots. She shook her head with fondness, there had been many an occasion where she had found him fallen asleep fully clothed from spending too long in his studies and losing the battle with his fatigue. Boots set aside, she unfolded the blanket and carefully draped it over him. She couldn’t help running her fingers gently through his long hair. Loki stirred, his eyelids fluttering slightly. “Amma?”</p><p>            “It’s all right dearheart,” she soothed, “go back to sleep.”</p><p>            Loki settled immediately. Frigga sat there for a long while, carding her fingers through his hair and occasionally running her thumb over his sharp cheek. Loki would occasionally nuzzle against her hand then let out a little satisfied sigh before settling again. Eventually he eased out of the tight ball she had originally found him in and she adjusted the blanket around him the further he relaxed.</p><p>            Frigga was so engrossed in watching Loki that she didn’t immediately realize someone else had entered the room. She startled when her husband placed a hand on her shoulder. She could see his own relief reflecting in his eye as he gazed upon their son.</p><p>            “He’s home Frigga,” Odin whispered. “He’s safe and he will fully heal with time. We will be here to help and support him in any way he needs. Although I do believe, more than anything, he needs his mother.”</p><p>            She nodded, tipping her head to momentarily lie against his hand. Loki was not the only one among them who needed time to heal. Their entire family had wounds which needed tending to and while she wished she could use her seiðr to heal those wounds instantly she knew such a thing could not be done.</p><p>            Frigga knew she could not remain at Loki’s bedside all night, he would be most embarrassed to find her watching him the way she was. She bent to place a kiss at his temple then readjusted the blanket around him once again before standing and following her husband from the room.</p><p>            Once inside their chambers her vision blurred as tears welled in her eyes. She had not allowed herself to truly feel any sort of real relief since Loki had first been spotted on Midgard. When Loki had been returned to Asgard and taken to the dungeon, she had worked hard to understand her son’s motives and what had changed him so. To finally have an understanding of why Loki had done what he had, that her son had believed the events on Midgard to have been an elaborate illusion had given her hope that her little boy was still there, that her Loki was not the feral beast he had appeared to be.</p><p>            Odin wrapped her in his arms and held her as she wept tears of relief and joy. Underneath her relief was a sense of guilt. “We should have protected him better.”</p><p>            Odin sighed, his arms tightening around her. “I have played out the day he fell in my mind over and over. If I had been able to hold off the Odinsleep for a little longer then perhaps none of this would have happened.”</p><p>            She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “We should have told him the truth years ago.”</p><p>            “To what end? You know what the people say of the Jötnar. I never wanted him to have such prejudice aimed at him. He has heard the warriors speak ill of them all his life, if we had told him when he was a child all he would know is Asgard despises the Jötnar.”</p><p>            “He knows that now,” Frigga said. “<em>We</em> should have been the ones to tell him not… however it was he learned the truth.”</p><p>            “On that point, I agree.”</p><p>            She pulled completely from her husband’s embrace. “What do we do Odin?”</p><p>            Her husband retook his seat but gave no attention to the parchments on the table beside his chair. “I wish I knew. I never thought this would be an issue.”</p><p>            “You never wanted Loki to know of his origins in the first place.”</p><p>            “Was I wrong? Look at all that has happened. How much would have been different had he not been contending with the knowledge of his birth while ruling in my stead?”</p><p>            “You should have told me he knew, at least. Perhaps then—”</p><p>            “Frigga, what’s done is done. We cannot change it but we may be able to help him accept that his origins change nothing of who he is.”</p><p>            “How do you propose to do so?”</p><p>            Odin’s single eye glanced down at his own hand briefly before meeting her gaze once again. “I may have an idea.”</p><p>* * *</p><p>            Loki awoke to the sound of birdsong outside of his window. He was quite comfortable and debated the merits of climbing from his bed. He didn’t recall climbing underneath his blankets the previous evening, not only that, he didn’t remember removing his boots either.</p><p>            Loki pushed up onto his elbows and saw he had indeed fallen asleep atop his covers. The blanket covering him was one he had not seen before. The fabric consisted of his colors outlining his crest. He ran his fingers over the fabric; it was almost silken beneath his fingers. Where had the blanket come from?</p><p>            He thought back to what he had thought to be a dream the night before. His mother coming to his room and sitting with him had apparently not been a dream. Loki groaned and buried his head in his pillow as a wave of embarrassment washed over him.</p><p>            <em>Why are you embarrassed?</em> the Infinity Stones inquired.</p><p>            Loki had briefly forgotten about their presence. He turned his head enough to spot them lowering themselves to hover within his eyesight. “I acted like a child,” he moaned.</p><p>            Twinkling laughter rang through his mind. <em>You were barely awake and you should feel no embarrassment for finding comfort in your mother’s presence. Both she and your father watched over you for a time before departing. We sense they continue to worry for you but also that they wish to help you in every way they can.</em></p><p>            He ran his fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp before finally climbing from the bed. Loki wasn’t entirely sure what to do with himself. He had spent his time since returning to Asgard either in her dungeons or within the healing halls. He couldn’t even imagine what his father planned on telling the people to explain his release. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach, how long had it taken for all of Asgard to learn the truth of his birth? The Realm had to know by now. Why had no one demanded his head?</p><p>            Loki forced those thoughts from his mind. There were far greater things to worry about than his existential crisis at his origins. Once Thanos was defeated, <em>(could he be defeated?)</em> then Loki could deal with all he had learned and been through.</p><p>            He wandered around his rooms for a time, noticing how there was no dust anywhere in his apartments. He could sense the faint trace of his mother’s seiðr and his father’s as well. He recalled something he had asked of Thor on Midgard, <em>“Did you mourn?”</em> Based upon their actions of late and the impressions left within his rooms, he knew they <em>had </em>mourned him.</p><p>            Loki looked to where the Mind Stone had set itself upon one of the bookshelves, the Space Stone following suit. “Is it you who are giving me these feelings? Is anything of me still me?”</p><p>            <em>We wished you to know the truth of your family’s feelings towards you and how strongly they care and love you.</em></p><p>            “What about me?”</p><p>            <em>We are a part of you. We have always been a part of you in some way but we do not control you.</em></p><p>            “If Thanos were to capture me and collect all six Stones, would he be able to control you through me?”</p><p>            The two Stones were silent for longer than Loki liked. <em>Perhaps, </em>they eventually conceded, <em>Thanos has studied us extensively and knows what it means for you to be our vessel. We believe it is why he corrupted our power of Mind to twist your own. </em></p><p>            <em>We do not want Thanos to acquire our true power. His intentions where we are concerned would devastate the universe. It is why we have shown you where the rest of our essences lie. For Thanos to wield our power on his own he would require the Gauntlet to be forged. There is still time to thwart his plans.</em></p><p>            Loki hoped so. He had seen firsthand what Thanos and the Black Order did to planets they brought “balance” to. He had been forced to watch the culling of several worlds as a part of his training. He never wanted to experience such a thing again and if he could deny Thanos, well that would be a victory all its own, wouldn’t it?</p><p>            He thought about the locations the Stones had shown them as he entered his bathroom. One look at himself in the mirror had him grimacing. There was no way he could search for the remaining Stones in his current condition. He was far too weak. <em>Such a condition isn’t anything new,</em> he thought sardonically.</p><p>            <em>You do not give yourself enough credit, </em>the Stones chastised gently. <em>You are far stronger than you believe. You only have yet to see it. As for your current physical condition, you will become stronger so long as you allow those who wish to help you, to help and not force yourself beyond your limits while you heal. </em></p><p>            Far easier said than done. Loki had never been a very patient patient. Lady Eir could attest to that but Loki decided it best to suffer through healing himself physically than to risk running into Thanos and the Black Order in his current weakened state.</p><p>            He took the time to clean up and change into fresh clothing. He still hated how his clothes hung off his frame. He would have to work hard to return to where he had been physically prior to his fall. In order to accomplish that he would have to keep himself from falling into a deep melancholy, which was another thing easier said than done.</p><p>            Loki realized he was procrastinating leaving his chambers. His heart beat wildly in his chest, fear of what he may face beyond these walls making him want to remain hidden. When had he become so fearful of others? He berated himself internally. He was Loki Odinson, a Prince of Asgard and he was better than this fear which was trying to control him. He had survived Thanos and the Black Order! He could leave the safety of his chambers!</p><p>            Squaring his shoulders, he swung open his doors and stepped outside only to nearly run into his brother.</p><p>            “Brother,” Thor said with a hint of surprise.</p><p>            “Thor,” Loki replied.</p><p>            They stood watching each other in silence, neither one really knowing what to say to the other. Thor shifted almost nervously. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>            “I’m… better than I expected.”</p><p>            “That’s good. You, um, look better. I’m glad.” Amusement entered Thor’s eyes. “They still follow you, huh?”</p><p>            Loki frowned until he realized his brother was speaking of the two Infinity Stones, which now hovered behind his shoulder. Loki thought they had remained within his rooms.</p><p>            “It appears so.”</p><p>            Another awkward silence fell between them. “Loki,” Thor began after a long moment, “I…”</p><p>            “Don’t strain yourself Thor. If you want forgiveness—”</p><p>            “That’s not…” Thor rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I do want that but I know it is something I will have to earn.”</p><p>            Loki’s eyes widened with shock.</p><p>            “I have spent the past several days thinking about what you said,” Thor went on, “and you were right. I should have questioned why you had changed more than I had. I shouldn’t have simply assumed your motivations based upon the word of others. You’re my brother and I have known you for over a thousand years. I should have listened to you.”</p><p>            “Yes, you should have but,” Loki sighed, “I probably wouldn’t have heard anything you said to me anyway.”</p><p>            “Because you believed everything was an illusion.”</p><p>            He nodded, “I had been through so many different scenarios, so many different ways things could have gone that I had no reason to believe otherwise.”</p><p>            “But you know now this is real.”</p><p>            “Strangely enough, I do.”</p><p>            “That’s good.” Thor shifted from foot to foot, “Would you care to break your fast with me?”</p><p>            Thor appeared so much like a hopeful puppy that Loki found himself agreeing. Loki followed Thor to the family dining area and was a bit surprised to find both of their parents already sitting at the table. Loki felt his cheeks flame when he thought about what had happened the night before. Thankfully, neither of his parents brought it up.</p><p>            After greeting their parents, the brothers sat to their breakfast. Loki felt anxious and found he could not eat very much. A few pieces of bread with honey and some fruit already had his stomach turning. Light conversation went on between his brother and parents and everything felt so <em>normal</em> that Loki didn’t know what to make of it. They were acting as though nothing had happened. Surely they couldn’t so easily return to the way things once were.</p><p>            Once the meal had completed and they all began to rise to leave his father caught his attention. “Loki.” Loki felt dread when his father said his name. “Would you be up to speaking with me alone?”</p><p>            “Would it not be more prudent for me to continue telling what I know of T—” he cleared his throat, “Thanos once everyone is present?”</p><p>            “What I want to speak of isn’t about Thanos,” Odin replied. “We never did have a proper conversation concerning what you learned about your birth.”</p><p>            Loki was hit with such a wave of lightheadedness that he had to sit back down. Both Thor and Frigga rushed to his side. “Loki?” they inquired.</p><p>            “I’m all right,” Loki assured them. Discussion of his origins was not something he thought to have so soon.</p><p>            “Are you sure?” his mother asked.</p><p>            Loki nodded. “I simply stood too fast,” he said, playing his dizziness off as due to his illness and the minimal amount of food he had partaken of. Of course, he could tell by the look in her eye that his mother didn’t quite believe him. She shared a look with her husband and let the subject drop but not before placing a kiss to the top of Loki’s head.</p><p>            Once they were left alone, Odin turned his attention fully upon Loki. “I want you to know Loki; your origins are nothing to be ashamed of. My only regret is you learned the truth from a source other than your mother and myself.”</p><p>            “You would have rather I never learned it at all,” Loki said.</p><p>            His father gave a single nod, “I won’t lie, I had hoped you would never learn of it.”</p><p>            The old anger Loki had felt that day in the Vault returned full force. “It’s harder to control the monster once it knows what it is.”</p><p>            “You are no monster Loki,” Odin said, not rising to meet Loki’s anger. “I took you to save your life, nothing more.”</p><p>            “Then why didn’t you tell me?”</p><p>            “I did not want you to know you had been abandoned by those who should have loved and protected you.”</p><p>            “You said you thought to use me to unite our Realms.” Loki said, recalling the words spoken on that fateful day. “How did you plan to do that? Do away with Laufey and place me on the throne of Jötunheim as some sort of puppet king? You said those plans no longer mattered since I had found out.”</p><p>            “No, they no longer mattered because I did not want you to bear the burden of being the bridge between Asgard and Jötunheim.”</p><p>            “What are you talking about?”</p><p>            “There was a time when Asgard and Jötunheim were the closest of allies and not all that long ago either.”</p><p>            “You wanted to prove you could tame a monster.”</p><p>             “Stop calling yourself that,” Odin chastised. “The Jötnar are no more monstrous than the Æsir. Laufey is your sire but he is not your father, I am. Once I brought you home, your mother and I knew you were meant to be our son. You are, by rights, the Crown Prince of Jötunheim this is true but you are also a Prince of Asgard. That was never a lie. You are a member of this family and nothing will change that.”</p><p>            “Asgard will never abide a Jötunn on its throne.”</p><p>            Loki was surprised when his father smirked. “Won’t it? You have already ruled Asgard as her king.”</p><p>            “No one knew the truth then.”</p><p>            “And only a handful know of it now.”</p><p>            Cold dread settled in his chest. “Who?”</p><p>            “Beyond our family, Lady Eir and Heimdall.”</p><p>            “That’s all?”</p><p>            “I saw no reason for anyone else to know. Heimdall helped me to smuggle you into Asgard and Lady Eir, as your healer, needed to know. I never wanted you to bear the brunt of Asgard’s prejudice against the Jötnar. It would not be fair to judge you based upon the actions and a war of a people you have no part of.”</p><p>            “It’s in my very blood.”</p><p>            “Mine as well.”</p><p>            He couldn’t have heard that right, “What?”</p><p>            “Give me your hand.”</p><p>            “No, what did you mean by yours as well?”</p><p>            His father held out a hand. “Give me your hand,” he repeated.</p><p>            Reluctantly Loki did so and he was surprised by how cold his father’s hand was. Odin’s grip was strong though. “I don’t understand.”</p><p>            “You will.” It was not a moment later that Loki saw blue radiating out from where they touched. He gasped, his jaw dropping as he watched pale skin give way to azure but it wasn’t his skin that was changing, it was his <em>father’s</em>. Loki found himself at a loss for words. Faint lines adorned his father’s skin, what he knew to be heritage lines. “What… what is this?”</p><p>            His father pulled his hand back. “My own heritage,” Odin said.</p><p>            “But you’re Æsir.”</p><p>            “My mother was Jötunn which makes me half Jötunn. It takes me far more concentration to change to this form than it does for you to hold your own.”</p><p>            Loki was thankful he was sitting as he was sure his legs would have given out on him due to shock. Another moment later and his father’s skin had returned to normal.</p><p>            “Another reason I never thought to tell you about your origins is I didn’t want that knowledge to change how you saw yourself,” Odin said.</p><p>            “It did,” Loki said, placing his hands in his lap and pinching at the palm of one hand rather forcefully. “I can’t help but think part of the reason I broke so easily to <em>him</em> was due to my own monstrous ways. The evil inherently in me wanted to take part in the destruction he wrought.”</p><p>            “There is nothing inherently evil about you and I do not believe for a second you broke easily. You would have fought simply to be obstinate. I know firsthand just how stubborn you are.</p><p>            “I wish you could have learned the truth more gently and that I had been there for you when you needed me most.”</p><p>            “I’m not sure it would have changed anything.”</p><p>            “Perhaps, perhaps not but I would like to believe I could have prevented you from falling from Bifröst and suffering everything you have since then.”</p><p>            “So much would have changed if I hadn’t fallen into the Void. So many lives on Midgard could have been saved.” Loki winced and looked down at his hand, seeing a large red area on his palm from where he had continued picking at it. He had worried the skin to the point it was near ready to bleed. He forced himself to stop his nervous tick. “I can’t change what happened though I wish I could. I can only attempt to make up for what I have done by helping you to defeat Thanos.”</p><p>            His father stood and Loki watched as he moved along the table until he could pull Loki’s chair back then kneel before his son. Odin Allfather was kneeling before him? Why? “You have grown into a strong young man and I could not be more proud of you.”</p><p>            “Proud?” Loki asked, confused. “You denounced me.”</p><p>            “Denounced you?” his father asked with shock. “When have I ever denounced you?”</p><p>            “When…”</p><p>            <em>“I could have done it father. For you! For all of us!”</em></p><p>
  <em>            “No Loki.”</em>
</p><p>            “It’s why I let go,” he said lamely.</p><p>            Loki could easily say he had never seen the combination of surprise and abject horror cross his father’s expression before now. “You thought… You thought I denounced you?”</p><p>            “Didn’t you? I said I could have destroyed the monsters and you told me ‘no’.”</p><p>            His father gripped both of his hands, frowning slightly when he saw the welt on the palm of Loki’s hand. “Loki,” Odin began softly, “I was not denouncing you. You know I am able to see some things even while in the Odinsleep. I saw you trying your hardest to maintain the peace Thor had so carelessly broken and while I do not approve of your methods in dealing with Laufey I can, to some extent understand them. I will admit, as you grew older and into the person you are now, I wanted to return to Jötunheim and brag about the treasure I had been given and how proud I was to be your father.</p><p>            “I need you to try to understand, when I arrived on the Bifröst, I had just forced myself from the Odinsleep much too early and my body was trying to return to it. I barely had the strength to talk and it took all I had within me to hold onto you both while you hung over the Void. When I said ‘no’, it wasn’t a denouncement; it was confusion over what was happening. I could not understand why my sharp witted, silver tongued, <em>caring </em>son was driven to such acts of desperation. My heart broke when I realized you had misunderstood me and when you let go… a part of me died that day Loki.”</p><p>            “You…” he glanced to the side where his two new constant companions hovered. His own gifts along with the assurance of the Mind Stone told him his father spoke the truth. Loki’s vision blurred and he inwardly cursed his volatile emotions. He had been trying to deny the truth for so long even when it had been staring him right in the face that finally accepting it felt almost like giving in. It also helped to heal one of the many breaks in his heart. “I’m sorry papa.”</p><p>            His father stood and pulled Loki to him. “No, I am sorry Loki, for bringing you so much pain.” Once he pulled back, Odin dried Loki’s eyes. “I know it will take time to earn your trust again and nothing will ever be as it was before but I want you to understand, your mother and I love you very much and we’re we asked to make the choice again, we would make the same decision to adopt you. Of the many things I regret, bringing you into our family is not one of them.”</p><p>            Loki knew he had a long way to go in healing both physically and emotionally but having the reassurance of his family’s love for him and knowing it to be true, it may only be the beginning steps but it was a start.</p><p>
  <strong>* * *</strong>
</p><p>            It took a few months before Loki had healed enough physically and put on much needed weight before he was allowed back within the training rings to begin building up his muscle tone again. In the intervening time, he worked closely with the Avengers, giving them as much information on Thanos and his army as he could. Odin had instructed Heimdall to keep lookout should the Titan return to within Yggdrasil’s branches.</p><p>            Odin, Frigga and Loki spoke many times about the events surrounding his fall and Loki had found the courage to tell his parents about how he had felt even before that, how he thought he had not measured up to who they believed he should be, which in his mind was a duplicate of Thor.</p><p>            Speaking of the God of Thunder, Thor had practically made it his personal mission to be the best older brother he could. The brothers spoke at length as well, their conversations sometimes ending up in a yelling match but they were words which needed to be said. Loki was glad to realize their relationship was growing closer to what it had been in their youth, when they had been near inseparable.</p><p>            As for the people of Asgard, at Loki’s request it was not told to them the nature of his origins. They were told, however, how the Second Prince had survived a being of great evil and had, through unfortunate events of destruction, thwarted the Titan’s plans of culling Midgard. Convincing members of the World Security Council on the other had been a bit harder. To Loki’s surprise, the Avengers and SHIELD were more accepting of his tale, especially since he was feeding them inside information on the enemy.</p><p>            Loki followed Thor along the bridge to the Observatory. They were heading to Midgard to meet up with the Avengers, though not necessarily in an official capacity; this was almost entirely a social call. It was something Loki was honestly looking forward to.</p><p>            Thor was a proverbial ball of energy. This would be the first time since his return that Loki was well enough to leave Asgard. Physically, he had been well enough for a few weeks but, until now, Loki hadn’t been able to bring himself to walk down the bridge leading to the Observatory. The <em>only</em> reason they were going to Midgard via Bifröst and not Loki’s magic, was due to the railing which had recently been installed along the rainbow bridge. There was no way for someone to accidently fall over the side.</p><p>            Loki adjusted his coat around his shoulders. While he knew the gathering they were going to was not meant to be formal, he did not want to give off the wrong impression.</p><p>            “Everything will be fine brother,” Thor said. “The Midgardians know you are not to blame for what happened. They will not try to place you within their prisons.”</p><p>            That hadn’t been what Loki was worried about but now that Thor brought it up… “Maybe it would be best if I stayed here.”</p><p>            “You’re coming,” Thor said. Thor’s relationship with his new shield brothers (and sister) had only grown over the months they had been working together. Suddenly, Thor cursed. “I forgot the tome.”</p><p>            With a minute gesture, Loki called forth a large book. “This one?”</p><p>            Thor grinned and Loki had just enough time to send the tome into his dimensional pocket before his brother caught him up in a fierce embrace. “You are the best.”</p><p>            “And you have a poor memory.”</p><p>            “I do not have a poor memory,” Thor protested, thankfully putting Loki down. “I was simply focused on our upcoming gathering.”</p><p>            Loki glanced over at Heimdall who appeared not to be paying the brother’s any attention. Loki knew better though and gave the Mind Stone a dry look, “Please don’t do that.”</p><p>            <em>Apologies,</em> the Stone replied.</p><p>            That was something else Loki had slowly grown used to as he healed, having the two Infinity Stones in their possession follow him <em>everywhere</em> and while it did help him to determine if someone was being truthful or not, he did not enjoy having the Stone tell him what other people were thinking.</p><p>            With an arm still wrapped around Loki’s shoulder, the two of them made for the entrance of the Bifröst. Loki heard Heimdall shift and the mechanism activate before he and Thor were whisked away by the rainbow light.</p><p>            They touched down only moments later atop a skyscraper. The sun shone down from a clear blue sky, giving Loki a clear view of the repairs the city was still undergoing. Loki’s chest tightened as he recalled all he had done.</p><p>            “Don’t,” Thor said, pressing a kiss to Loki’s temple.</p><p>            “It’s hard,” Loki admitted, “and I can’t help but feel guilt for what I did here.”</p><p>            “It wasn’t good,” Thor admitted, “but you are helping us to protect all of Midgard for what is coming. It’s not just Midgard you’re helping to protect but all of Yggdrasil.”</p><p>            Loki nodded, forcing his guilt aside. He wouldn’t be the reason their gathering became somber. He took a fortifying breath then followed his brother inside. The penthouse they entered had been repaired from the last Loki had been there. His eyes fell upon the smooth marble of the floor.</p><p>            “Hey Merlin!” Stark called from behind the minibar, “you came.” He waved two bottles of amber liquid. “What’s your poison?”</p><p>            “It’s way too early for drink’s Tony,” Barton said.</p><p>            “What? It’s five o’clock somewhere.”</p><p>            Barton rolled his eyes and continued twirling around a pair of drum sticks. “Nat and Cap went to pick up pizza.”</p><p>            “You’ll like pizza brother,” Thor said.</p><p>            “I know what pizza is,” Loki replied.</p><p>            Thor’s face fell slightly, “Oh, but you’ve probably never tried these.” He went over by Stark and bent for something in the cabinet beneath him. With a cry of triumph, Thor held up a small blue and white box.</p><p>            Loki went to closer examine the box his brother held, then ran a hand down his face once he did. “Those are Pop-Tarts Thor.”</p><p>            “You know of Pop-Tarts?”</p><p>            “I’ve already told you, I have been to Midgard many times and know more about this Realm than you do.”</p><p>            “But… Pop-Tarts.”</p><p>            Stark snickered, “You look like someone kicked your puppy Point Break.”</p><p>            Loki pat his brother on the shoulder. “I’m sure there are some things you have learned about recently that I don’t know about.” His eyes once again found the city beyond the window. “It looks as though a good amount of repairs have been completed.”</p><p>            “There has,” Stark said, pouring glasses for each of them and taking one over to Barton. “It’s slow going but we’ll get there.”</p><p>            Barton took the glass with a shrug and took a drink. He pulled back with a frown. “Apple juice?”</p><p>            “I wanna stay sober a while longer,” Stark said.</p><p>            They all took seats on the couch in the receded floor. “Where’s Banner?” asked Loki.</p><p>            “He’s in the lab going over some data we’ve collected recently. We’ve been analyzing the energy given off by your two hover buddies. They indicated there was a third Stone here and we’re hoping to find it.”</p><p>            “I doubt the Masters of the Mystic Arts will be so careless as to allow the energy from the Stone to be detected by your technology.”</p><p>            Stark shrugged, “I like a challenge. There’s also been a ton of spatial anomalies lately that we’re going over as well. Your girlfriend,” he said to Thor, “is doing research on it over in England.”</p><p>            “That’s probably due to the Convergence.”</p><p>            “The what?” Barton asked.</p><p>            “Our father pointed out that the Convergence is to occur this year. It only happens once every five thousand years when nine Realms are in alignment. The barrier between the Realms thins during this time to the point where it takes almost nothing to move between them,” Loki explained. He brought out the tome Thor had forgotten to grab earlier and opened it to the relevant page.</p><p>            Stark and Barton leaned over to examine the pages. “Cool,” Stark said. The elevator dinged. “Pizzas here.”</p><p>            With the arrival of Rogers, Romanoff and their meal they all sat and conversed. Banner was coaxed from the lab with the offer of greasy sustenance. The atmosphere was much more comfortable than Loki had expected it to be. He found he enjoyed being a part of their little group. They almost felt like friends and it was honestly a new concept for him.</p><p>            “But seriously,” Stark was saying, “there has to be more to it.”</p><p>            “It’s enchanted,” Thor replied.</p><p>            “Yeah but, how does it decide who’s worthy or not? What’s the criteria?”</p><p>            “One must possess the power of Thor.”</p><p>            Loki rolled his eyes, grabbing another slice of pizza. “Your ego is showing brother.”</p><p>            “Sounds like a challenge,” Stark said, figuratively rolling up his sleeves. “Who wants to lay odds that someone <em>other</em> than Thor can lift his,” here he deepened his voice for dramatic effect, “magic hammer?”</p><p>            Barton shrugged, “Why not?”</p><p>            Thor stood to retrieve Mjölnir while Stark and Barton cleared the table. His brother brought the hammer over and laid her on the table top. Loki leaned back in his seat, knowing the following events were going to be very entertaining.</p><p>            Since Stark had been the one to initiate the challenge, he was the first to try. “So this is like the Sword in the Stone, right? If I lift this I get to be King of Asgard.”</p><p>            “Oh of course,” Loki said, sharing an amused look with his brother.</p><p>            “I’ll be reinstating prima nocta.”</p><p>            Thor let out a snort, “Good luck.”</p><p>            Stark grabbed the hammer and pulled. He let out a grunt when nothing happened. He let go and frowned, “It’s coded? Whosoever holds Thor’s fingerprints?”</p><p>            “Now you’re just reaching,” Barton said.</p><p>            “Then you give it a try bird boy.”</p><p>            “All right.” Barton placed the drumsticks aside and swaggered over to where Thor had laid Mjölnir. He grabbed Mjölnir’s handle and pulled, nearly throwing himself off balance when she did budge. He frowned too and tried again. After a few more failed attempts he gave up with a laugh. “I still say it’s a trick.”</p><p>            “No trick,” Loki said, “an enchantment.”</p><p>            “Yeah, yeah,” Stark said sarcastically. “Who’s next?” His eyes roamed around the room. “Cap?”</p><p>            Rogers looked like a deer in the headlights. “Oh… I…”</p><p>            “Yeah, come on Mr. Righteous, your turn,” needled Barton.</p><p>            “Okay.” Rogers took the handle next to almost the same effect. Thor’s smile dropped and his eyes widened when Mjölnir <em>wiggled </em>just the tiniest bit. He looked to Loki with something like panic in his eyes. Loki shrugged and they turned back to watch Rogers. He gave one more pull then let go. Hands held up, he shrugged.</p><p>            “Ha, nothing,” Thor said, his smile returning but Loki could tell it was partly forced.</p><p>            Banner tried next to the same effect as Stark and Barton. When they turned to Romanoff she simply laughed. “That’s a question I don’t need answered.”</p><p>            “How about you Merlin?” Stark asked. “Your turn.”</p><p>            Loki shook his head. “I know I’m not worthy.”</p><p>            “Are you sure? Things could have changed, you never know.”</p><p>            “Trust me,” Loki replied, recalling Thor using Mjölnir to pin him to the ground when they had been fighting on Bifröst. The ruined coronation and his fall somehow seemed like so long ago.</p><p>            “Ah, come on. We’ve all given it a try. You never know you could have,” Stark wiggled his fingers, “the magic touch.”</p><p>            The others groaned at the terrible pun, Banner even threw a small piece of aluminum foil at him.</p><p>            Loki had no desire to make a fool of himself but the expectant gazes sent his way had him reconsidering. Even Thor was watching him with hopeful eyes. Loki sighed internally, “Alright.”</p><p>            “Yes!” Stark cried.</p><p>            “I don’t know what you expect,” Loki said as he reached for Mjölnir. “I’ll have no more luck than y—” Loki broke off and it took a long moment for his mind to process what his eyes were seeing. Mjölnir was no longer on the table but held aloft in Loki’s hand. She felt light as a feather and Loki almost dropped her when his mind caught up to his eyes.</p><p>            “Holy shit!” Stark exclaimed.</p><p>            “No way,” Barton yelled.</p><p>            Thor let out a happy cry. He stood and swept Loki up into his arms. At this point, Loki did drop Mjölnir so he could use Thor to maintain his balance. He felt his cheeks beginning to flame. “Thor, put me down.”</p><p>            Instead, to his utter horror, his brother twirled them around. “Brother—”</p><p>            “Thor I swear, if you don’t put me down I’m going to stab you.”</p><p>            Thor squeezed him harder but thankfully put him down. “Do you see what this means brother? You doubted there was good in you. This is irrefutable proof of your righteousness.” Thor held him at arm’s length but the smile on his face was nothing short of radiant.</p><p>            The pride in his eyes made Loki’s chest constrict. “You and your sentiment.”</p><p>            Thor pulled him in for another hug. “You love it,” he whispered in Loki’s ear.</p><p>            Loki refused to admit to the truth of his brother’s words.</p><p>            “Aw, aren’t they adorable?” Romanoff commented.</p><p>            “I’m getting cavities just watching them,” Barton quipped.</p><p>            “What did I tell you Merlin,” Stark almost seemed to gloat, “magic fingers.”</p><p>            “Don’t tease then,” Rogers chided. “This is a good thing.”</p><p>            “I agree,” Banner said. “It’s proof that we can be more than the mistakes we’ve made.”</p><p>            “Hear, hear,” echoed Thor, <em>finally</em> letting Loki go.</p><p>            Loki straightened his shirt and forced his embarrassment aside. He could feel the Stones’ amusement and pride. He narrowed his eyes at his two glowing tag-alongs. <em>It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the reason I could lift Mjölnir?</em></p><p><em>            No,</em> they replied, <em>it was your own virtue which gave you the ability. You continue to doubt yourself and fear the nature of your birth makes you inherently evil. Your brother is right however, let this be proof of the goodness which resides within you. </em></p><p>            It was so hard to let go of what he believed, even with such proof before his eyes. He cast his eyes around the room, glancing at everyone within. The Avengers, who had once been his enemies, were slowly becoming more than simply allies in their fight against Thanos and the Black Order. They were becoming his <em>friends</em>. It was an entirely new concept for him.</p><p>            An image came to Loki suddenly of a stone pedestal with elaborate carvings etched along the top and sides. Floating over the stone was an intricately designed golden amulet with a green glow at its center. As quickly as it arrived, the image faded.</p><p>            “Loki?” Thor inquired, worry clear in his voice.</p><p>            Loki blinked and saw everyone watching him with varying degrees of concern. “I’m all right,” Loki said in reassurance. He cast his gaze out of the window and though he couldn’t see it he knew he was gazing in the direction of an old brick building with a blue roof. “I know where the Time Stone is.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Loki acquires two more Stones.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Haha, I lied. Five chapters.</p><p>I do apologize for how long it's taken to post. It took me about a month just to write 1000 words. However like this time, I don't know when I'll have the next (hopefully final) chapter up. Sometimes I hate having to be a responsible adult.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="MsoNormal">
  <b>
    <em>
      <span>Four</span>
    </em>
  </b>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki stood before a tall brick building, his eyes roving over the seemingly innocuous façade. A quick glance around at the people on the sidewalks confirmed to him that to anyone with no magical sense, it was just another building but to someone like Loki it was, to borrow a saying, lit up like the Fourth of July.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“So wizards who supposedly protect Earth live here?” Stark asked, skepticism clear in his voice.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“There are many Sanctums spread out across the world,” Loki explained, “however the designation ‘Sanctum Sanctorum’ is given to whichever one the ‘Sorcerer Supreme’ resides at.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Stark’s eyebrows shot up. “‘Sorcerer Supreme’ sounds kind of snooty.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She is,” Loki said. “She also goes by the title of ‘Ancient One’ even though she has not even passed her first millennium.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Hold on a second,” Barton said, “‘first millennium’?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Asgardians live for several thousand years,” Thor replied. “Loki and I are still relatively young, having only just passed our first millennium about a century ago.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>They received several stunned looks. “You two are over a thousand years old?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Wow,” Stark said. “What’s it like to live that long?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki shrugged, “The same as your lifespans I suppose. I never really thought about it but now that I am… Humans are one of the rare species in the universe who don’t, at the very least, live for several hundred years.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“They used to, didn’t they?” asked Thor.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Possibly but if they did it was so long ago no one remembers. Which is neither here nor there at the moment.” Loki returned his gaze to the building. He could feel the power of the Stone which resided within. It called to him the same as all the others.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Do we just knock?” Banner asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>In answer to his question, the front doors opened. Within the entryway stood a man of seemingly Asian descent and behind him stood a bald woman in gold robes. Loki had seen the woman before, many hundreds of years ago. She appeared just as haughty now as she did then. What surprised Loki about her was the look of resignation on her face.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You should all come inside,” she said. “We have much to discuss.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>They followed the two Midgardian sorcerers inside; Loki had expected more hostility towards him. He had brought great destruction to the Realm.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>You must learn to release your guilt</em>, he heard the Stones say.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>Much easier said than done</em>, Loki silently replied.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Sorcerer Supreme stopped in the middle of the walkway and turned to Loki with a frown. “The power surrounding you, it is ancient.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yes,” Loki replied, “and your Order protects a piece of that same ancient power.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“How did you come to be in possession of them? You and your army were defeated.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“They came to my brother of their own volition,” Thor said, stepping up behind Loki.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>She hummed though there was suspicion in her gaze. Turning to face him fully, she said, “You’re here for the Stone we possess.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Someone far more dangerous to your world than me wants that Stone,” Loki said. “Should he collect all six he will use them to wipe out half of all life in the universe.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It appears you are well on your way to collecting them for him.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Loki didn’t have a choice when he attacked,” Rogers said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“He was just the advance party,” added Stark. “We have reason to believe the one who sent Loki would have come here even if Loki had won just so he could get the one you possess.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“He’s right,” Loki told her. “Thanos,” he swallowed hard, that name still difficult to get past his lips, “will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. The destruction I caused is nothing compared to what he will do to this world should he arrive. There is,” he shook his head. “Your Order will not be enough to protect Midgard, let alone the rest of Yggdrasil.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We will do all we can.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You will fail.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“And yet you believe the Stone, all of the Stones, would be safer in your custody.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki laughed, “Hardly, but they seem to have taken a liking to me.” More seriously he said, “I know firsthand what Thanos is capable of. I also know it is in everyone’s best interest to keep them out of Thanos’s grasp.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Where do you fit into this if not to aid your master?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Loki has no master,” Thor growled.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Her gaze turned cold. “You attack this world, bring an army and somehow convince her defenders of your sincerity and expect my Order to hand over one thing which can keep you from your goal.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What is his goal exactly?” Rogers asked, arms crossed.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yeah,” Stark added. “Since you seem to know Loki so well, please enlighten us.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You don’t want to give up your power,” said Romanoff.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You should choose your words with care,” said the male sorcerer. “You address the Sorcerer Supreme.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“And she addresses the Princes of Asgard,” retorted Thor, “and our allies.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Turning swiftly on her heel, the Sorcerer Supreme continued on down the hallway. With a wave of her hands, a portal opened, allowing them entry into their most guarded chamber. Floating above an intricately carved pedestal floated a golden medallion with a soft green glow at its center. Loki could sense the Time Stone. It called to him the same as the other three had.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Sorcerer supreme rounded the pedestal and placed her hands on either side of the hovering medallion.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>Our essence of Time,</em> Loki heard. <em>We are one step closer to becoming whole once more.</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Do you know what it is you seek?” she asked the group at large.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Their parents told us all about the Infinity Stones,” Stark said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We’re well aware of the dangers should the Stones fall into the wrong hands,” Rogers said, “but in Loki’s possession is the safest place they could be.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki wasn’t quite convinced of that himself. “Do you have the ability to create a pocket dimension?” he asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, “Why?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I think the safest place for the Stones is outside of space/time.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Brother?” Thor asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki drew in a long breath then turned to face his brother and companions. “Thanos knows what I am and that the Stones have begun to gravitate towards me. If he manages to capture me again I don’t think I could resist giving him what he wants.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You wouldn’t face him alone,” Barton said. Then to Loki’s surprise, “You have friends now.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>A warmth Loki could not recall ever feeling pooled within his chest. He’d never really thought of Thor’s friends, Sif and the Warrior’s Three, as his own but these Midgardians… They accepted him even with the evil he had done and instead of condemning him for his actions they were helping him to move past them.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We’ve already determined they belong to you anyway,” Stark said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“He has a point brother,” said Thor, placing a reassuring hand on Loki’s shoulder. “You said yourself the Stones told you they belong with you.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The Stones speak to you?” the Sorcerer Supreme asked Loki.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>He saw no point in keeping that information from her. “It’s why he sent me here. He knew the Stones would come to me, even if I didn’t.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The only reason for the Infinity Stones to converge of their own accord would be if they…” she trailed off and realization dawned in her eyes. “No.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s why he didn’t just kill me when I continued to fight him.” That Thanos and the Black Order <em>couldn’t</em> kill him no matter what manner of injury they inflicted upon him was not something she needed to know. “Would you be willing to protect all six?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>She was silent as she continued to stare at him. At his back, Loki felt his brother and their friends awaiting her response. Loki could even sense the confusion from those few who could not understand why he would give up something they had all recently learned was a part of him.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The only being the Stones would gravitate towards of their own accord is their vessel. You mean to say that is you?” She couldn’t have asked that question with more scorn had she tried.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“If you will not even give my brother’s request any sort of thought then we are leaving,” Thor said, “with the Time Stone since it appears you’ve no right to it.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Thor,” Loki said, trying to quell his brother’s rising anger before he lost his temper completely, “if they can place the Stones within a pocket dimension, it would be the safest place for them.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Can’t you do that very same thing?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I can but once they find me—”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We won’t let them take you again.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki sighed, this was an argument he was tired of having. “You have no idea what he’ll do to get me back. I failed by not bringing him the Tesseract and lost him the Mind Stone.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yet if what you say is true,” the Sorcerer Supreme interrupted, “and you are the vessel then you yourself cannot fall into the wrong hands again.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Though they were within his own dimensional pocket, he felt the two Stones he possessed along with the Time Stone give a comforting pulse. The glow emanating from the medallion seemed to grow brighter as well.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“They belong with you,”</em> Thor said in their native tongue.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“And if…”</em> he blew out a breath of frustration, <em>“</em>when<em> Thanos finds me I’ll give him what he wants. I’m not strong enough to try resisting him again. I’ll break.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>
      
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>Thor cupped Loki’s neck as he had many times before, the gesture helping to calm Loki’s suddenly racing heart. <em>“We won’t let that happen brother. We failed you before in so many ways but we will do everything in our power to not fail you again.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki wanted to believe Thor and he could sense the sincerity of his brother’s words but his knowledge of Thanos let him know just how futile it would be. Thanos would come and reclaim Loki and it would be in everyone’s best interest to keep the Stones as far away from him as they could.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Hey, I just had a thought,” Stark said, breaking the tension that had built up in the room. “If these Stones are so powerful they could remake the universe then couldn’t we, I don’t know, use them to just poof the threat of Thanos away?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Maybe,” Loki conceded, switching back to English, “but to wield the Stones at all is dangerous to the user,” he reminded Stark. “It’s possible something like that wouldn’t work the way you’d hope.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It is something to consider though,” Romanoff said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Ever since learning about his connection to the Infinity Stones Loki had spent countless hours in the library while healing researching the entity the six Stones created. While everything he read stated he should be able to safely handle their collective power, the very idea of doing so terrified him.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“So what’s the plan then?” asked Barton.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Rogers spoke next, “Will you give the Stone to Loki or consider keeping the ones he has safe for the time being?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Sorcerer Supreme contemplated the Captain’s question. “It is not safe to have so many Stones gathered in once place for too long a time. As for the Time Stone, it will remain in our possession.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“So you’re just going to leave us hanging?” groused Stark.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“No,” she replied, “we will take the Stones in Loki’s possession and hide them. No one will ever know their location.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>No!</em> Loki flinched at the Stones’ cry. <em>We will not be separated again!</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The intricate mechanism inside the medallion meant to keep the Time Stone locked within began to move. Before the Sorcerer Supreme or anyone else could react, the Time Stone flew out of its casing straight over to Loki.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>We will not be parted again.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What are you doing?” demanded the Sorcerer Supreme as she tried to recall the Time Stone.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“They don’t want to be apart,” Loki replied. Like the other Stones had, the Time Stone hovered around him. “I don’t think we can stop them coming together.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Three have already made themselves known in only a few short months,” Thor said. “I doubt their gathering is something we can prevent.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“And with the Convergence this year, chances are they will be much easier to find.” Loki frowned as a new sensation came to him. He could suddenly feel the power of a forth Stone. While it was faint, it was there. Why was there suddenly a forth Stone on Midgard?</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Stark’s phone began to ring at the same time Thor’s eyes turned gold. While Thor did little more than blink, Loki knew he was in communication with Heimdall. Stark’s own side of the conversation only made everyone both curious and concerned. Stark ended his conversation and said, “Doctor Foster is missing,” at the same time Thor came back to his senses to say, “Jane’s missing.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Missing?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Heimdall lost sight of her several hours ago,” Thor said. From the tone of his voice he wasn’t pleased Heimdall had taken so long to inform him.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She has to be somewhere.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“That was her intern,” Stark said. “She disappeared while researching an abandoned factory outside of London. It’s been almost six hours.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What exactly was she researching?” the Sorcerer Supreme asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Spatial anomalies, from what Miss Lewis told me, things were disappearing and reappearing at strange intervals. There was also something about a bunch of kids playing with a floating tanker truck.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s the Convergence. If Doctor Foster stepped through one of the thinning barriers, she could be anywhere,” Loki said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor paled then headed for the door, “I have to find her.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“How?” Loki asked, though not unkindly. “Thor, if Heimdall can’t see her…” he trailed off. He knew now Heimdall hadn’t been able to see him while he’d been a prisoner on <em>Sanctuary</em>. Loki dreaded to think of what would happen to the poor woman had her wanderings sent her there. There was also the sensation of a forth Stone he now felt. “There’s more.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“More?” Thor asked. “You don’t think she—”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I don’t know. What I do know is I can sense another Stone on Midgard.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“A forth Stone?” asked Banner. “Could that be due to the Convergence as well?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Possibly. It’s faint right now but I can sense it.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Can you sense which one?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki shook his head. “I’m sorry.”<br/>“There are potentially four Infinity Stones on Earth,” said the Sorcerer Supreme. “With the last two still in unknown locations across the cosmos.” She gestured again, “This cannot stand.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Fear gripped Loki’s heart when the floor underneath him gave way to the sudden sensation of falling. He heard Thor cry out and several exclamations from their companions. Around him, the world fell into darkness. Loki screamed.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>No, no not again! Not again!</em> Terror overrode all emotion and thought. Loki frantically looked around for any sign of light, but there was nothing. The Sorcerer Supreme had thrown him back into the Void. He flailed his arms and legs, hoping to find some sort of purchase. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki fell and fell endlessly. He couldn’t breathe for his terror though his throat felt as though he had screamed until it was raw. The nothingness around him brought horrible memories to the surface and his body ached with phantom pain from the tortures he’d endured. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Help me!” Oh, there was sound this time. “Please,” he begged, “don’t leave me here.” <em>I can’t do this again.</em> The emptiness was boundless. How long would he be trapped here? How much time had passed since he’d been returned to the Void?</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Blue, yellow and green lights appeared around him. They were a beacon in the overwhelming darkness. <em>Calm, calm,</em> he heard. <em>Breathe, all will be well.</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Tears blurred his vision. “Help me.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>Close your eyes.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>He did, wrapping his arms around himself. A presence surrounded him, bringing to him a sense of calm. He felt a slight tingling sensation race across his body before the nothingness beneath him became solid. Light and sound blessedly returned as well.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Loki!” Thor’s panicked voice reached his ears only a moment before he realized his brother had pulled him into his arms. Loki gripped back just as tightly.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What the hell was that!” demanded Barton.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Uncaring they were witnessing another moment of his weakness, Loki took comfort in his brother’s presence. He trembled as he recalled the emptiness he’d been sent to. “Empty.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Stark and Banner entered his vision. “What was empty?” Banner asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Everything,” Loki replied. “There was nothing, total darkness.” He drew in a shaky breath and curled more towards Thor as the fear he’d felt bubbled up though it didn’t overwhelm him like before, “Like the Void.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You should not have been able to break free from there,” the Sorcerer Supreme said in shock.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Where did you send him?” Rogers asked. Loki detected barely controlled anger in his voice.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You asked about a pocket dimension.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“For the Stones!” cried Stark, “Not Loki.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Why the hell would you think we’d want you to put Loki in there?” demanded Barton. “That’s inhumane!”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>She seemed indifferent to their anger. “You seem to forget <em>what</em> he is. If everything you’ve said about Loki being the vessel of the Infinity Stones is true, then he cannot be allowed to roam free lest someone think to use him for their own designs.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Loki is not some <em>weapon</em>,” Thor growled. His grip on Loki seemed to tighten a little further.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>As much as a part of Loki wanted to hide and take comfort in his brother’s arms he knew he could not. He also came to a realization, deep down in the marrow of his bones that he would never be someone else’s tool or weapon again. That knowledge was freeing. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki also continued to be surprised by the Midgardian’s defense of him. They had become a support system he hadn’t realized he’d needed. While he still feared Thanos and the Black Order and a part of him continued to fear he would break before them, however, with his family and… and <em>friends</em> supporting and believing in him, he knew he would not falter before the Titan.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>We will not let you fall.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>He pulled from Thor’s embrace and stood. His brother, though obviously concerned, was fighting to keep his anger at her actions in check. Loki could feel the electricity in the air. Loki was angry at her actions too but he had a better reign on that anger. Outside, thunder crashed.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“I’m alright Thor,”</em> Loki said in their native tongue.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Concern laced Thor’s reply. <em>“Are you certain? You…”</em> Thor huffed then shook his head.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Truth be told, Loki wasn’t fine but they didn’t have time for him to have a breakdown or lose himself in the terror he’d felt.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor’s posture screamed protective big brother when he placed himself between Loki and the Sorcerer Supreme. “Don’t ever try that again,” he warned her.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Once all collected and assimilated, your brother will be the most powerful object in the universe,” she said matter-of-factly</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I’m not an object,” though whether or not he was little more than a beast, his ability to lift Mjölnir notwithstanding, was something he was still working out. “I’ll not be caged again, especially by you.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Time Stone in hand, he turned on his heel. “Oh, one more thing, while they appreciate your protection of the Time Stone, they’re not happy with your treatment of us. I wouldn’t do anything further to anger them.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>It took no effort for Loki to break the barrier she had erected to seal them within the Time Stone chamber. Loki reached out with his senses for the new Stone on Midgard. While he could feel its presence, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where on Midgard it was. He’d been able to do so with the Time Stone but it had been much closer in proximity to him.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>They left the Sanctum and returned to the tower. Stark made numerous phone calls and Thor returned to Asgard to consult with Heimdall in hoping to learn of Doctor Foster’s location. It was another couple of hours before Stark’s phone rang again and, to their surprise, it was Thor on the other side.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Where are you?” Loki demanded, stealing the phone from Stark’s grasp, much to the other man’s protest.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“Jane has reappeared,” </em>Thor said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“<em>Where</em> are <em>you</em>?” Loki repeated.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“In London, with Jane,”</em> Thor seemed oblivious to the worry Loki hadn’t been able to keep from filtering into his voice. If Thor stumbled upon whatever had caused Doctor Foster’s disappearance… His brother could become just as lost as she had with no way of anyone finding him. Doctor Foster’s reappearance could have simply been a fluke.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“I’m taking her to Asgard,” </em>Thor continued. <em>“She said she only thought herself to be gone for a few minutes. I want to be sure there is nothing wrong with her.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>It’s you that you need to worry about,</em> Loki thought angrily. “Is there anything strange happening around you? If she fell through a thinned barrier because of the Convergence and you do too—”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>“How strange?”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Thor!”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>“It’s raining but neither of us is getting wet. We are not under any sort of cover.”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>That was a strange occurrence but not what he was worried about. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I’ll take my phone back,” Stark said. Loki looked over at the man, having completely forgotten his and the other’s presence. “Jay has his location,” Stark went on. “If we leave now we can be there in only a few hours.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Don’t move,” Loki said into the phone, “I’ll be there momentarily.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>“Loki—”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I said <em>don’t</em> move!” </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“Loki,”</em> Thor’s placating tone only seemed to aggravate Loki further. <em>“Heimdall can see us now. We’re going </em>straight<em> to Asgard. There is nothing to worry for brother.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>
      
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I never said anything about being worried,” Loki protested, even though he was greatly worried.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>“Oh,”</em> the way Thor said that simple word, Loki could easily picture the grimace on his brother’s face. <em>“Oh Loki, I’m sorry.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>
      
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>Now Loki was confused. “What?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor’s voice softened, as though he was trying to keep anyone from overhearing. <em>“As soon as I learned Jane was missing, I abandoned you. I said I would never do such a thing again and after what happened at the Sanctum—”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Stop,” Loki said, taking his own few steps away. “You didn’t abandon me Thor; you were worried for your friend. I understand that. I… I am worried,” he admitted, “because if you fall through a similar thinned barrier and out of Heimdall’s sight…”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>“I promise brother, straight to Asgard.”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I’ll return as well.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>“No, you stay there. This was supposed to be a break for you.”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>
      
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I—”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>“Please brother. Enjoy yourself.”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Enjoy himself? How was he supposed to do that when there was another Infinity Stone on Midgard? As though reading his thoughts Thor said, <em>“See if any of Stark’s machines can locate the new Stone on Midgard.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>If Loki weren’t holding a phone to his ear, he’d be picking at the palm of his hand. As it was, his fingers were doing quite a number on the hem of his shirt. “All right,” he finally conceded, “I’ll see if we can find anything.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor said his farewell, muttering certain words in their native tongue which made Loki’s cheeks flame. Loki repeated them back though; he’d learned not to take such sentiments for granted. He returned Stark’s phone to him and relayed the important parts of his conversation with his brother. Stark seemed eager to see what they could find and together, they along with Banner went to Stark’s lab to begin their search.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>* * * </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki sat watching the data scroll across one of Stark’s holographic screens. Something nagged at him, had been nagging at him ever since he’d sensed another Stone. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was though and it was slowly driving him mad. The only outward sign of his turmoil was his consistent picking at the skin of his hand. He would force himself to stop only to realize he’d begun the nervous tick all over again.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I wish I had a better understanding of what I was looking for,” Stark said, chin in his hand as he absently picked through a container of peanuts. “It would make searching a lot easier.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We have three other Stones,” Banner reminded him. “We were able to track the energy of the Space Stone when it was contained in the Tesseract.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I guess but…” His eyes narrowed at the data, “If their energy signatures were the same then we should have been picking up all three of them last time and we didn’t.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Banner groaned, “Which means their signatures are different.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Could there be some similarity between them?” Loki suggested.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Let’s find out,” Stark said, lowering his hand and popping the last of his snacks into his mouth.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki called forth the three Stones he had to allow for Stark and Banner to analyze them. He wondered briefly if they minded being studied. Though the entity itself wasn’t whole, there was enough sentience among the Stones gathered together for it to have its own opinion.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>Do you mind us doing this?</em> Loki asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>Not at all, although the piece of us you sensed earlier is no longer on this world.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What?” Loki asked aloud.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Both Stark and Banner looked over at him, “What?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What do you mean it’s gone?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Hello,” Stark said, “Earth calling Loki. Are they talking to you again?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yes,” Loki replied, moving his gaze from the three hovering Stones over to Stark. “They said the forth Stone is no longer on Midgard.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Stark and Banner both looked as surprised by that statement as Loki felt. “You started to sense the forth Stone around the time Doctor Foster was reported missing,” said Banner.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“And it got stronger once she reappeared,” added Stark.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki reached out with his senses but all he could feel were the three Stones before him. He stood, “I have to return to Asgard.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Stark and Banner looked prepared to follow him. “Do you want us to come with you?” Stark asked. He sounded almost hopeful.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“No,” Loki felt a smile form, “but I will let you know if we find anything.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Are you sure?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Tony,” Banner admonished.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We’ll see you out,” Stark said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“No need,” Loki replied. “Thank you though, for your hospitality.” He called his seiðr to him, teleporting near instantly to his rooms in Asgard. From the Mind Stone he heard Stark’s voice say, <em>“I have </em>got<em> to know how he does that.”</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki left his rooms, already sensing the forth Stone’s presence strongly. He could even feel the delight of the other three at having another piece of itself so close. Loki followed the presence and frowned when it led him to the healing wing of the palace. From inside one of the rooms, he could hear his brother, Lady Eir and another woman, presumably Doctor Foster, talking.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Be still,” Lady Eir commanded.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“This is not of Earth.” Thor said, “What is it?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>One of the other healers replied, “</span>
  <span>We do not know, but she will not survive the amount of energy surging within her.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki’s eyebrows rose at that. Was it possible that Doctor Foster had somehow—</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“That’s a quantum field generator, isn’t it?” Doctor Foster asked, breaking into Loki’s thoughts.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s a Soul Forge,” Lady Eir replied, her tone somewhat exasperated.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>In a dry tone, Doctor Foster retorted, “Does a Soul Forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yes,” Lady Eir said after a brief pause.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Softer and a tad smugly Doctor Foster said, “It’s a quantum field generator.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Footfalls from further down the hallway drew Loki’s attention. He spotted his father moving, almost angrily, towards the room. “Did your brother talk you into this?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Into what?” Loki asked. “I’ve only just arrived.” Odin harrumphed then stepped inside the chamber, Loki followed after him.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I see my words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely,” their father said to the elder brother.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She’s ill,” Thor protested.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor stiffened, “I brought her here because we can help her.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She does not belong here in Asgard any more than a goat belongs at a banquet table.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki looked from his father, to his brother then back again in shock. Apparently words had been exchanged between his father and brother regarding the mortal woman. His brother must truly care for her to disregard an edict from their father so easily. Then again, it being Thor…</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Incensed, Doctor Foster rose up onto her elbows. She looked at Thor, “Did he just…” She then turned to glare at Odin, “Who do you think you are?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I’m Odin. King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms,” Odin stated matter-of-factly.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>That seemed to make the woman deflate. “Oh. Well I’m…”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I know very well who you are, Jane Foster.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>She turned her gaze to Thor. “You told you dad about me?” Doctor Foster asked in a very poor whisper.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor turned pleading eyes on Loki, “Loki—”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Oh no,” Loki said, holding his hands up and taking a step back, “Whatever grievance there is between you and father about Doctor Foster, do <em>not</em> bring me into it.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Doctor Foster sat up further, her gaze now boring into him. “<em>You’re</em> Loki?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I am,” he replied. She rose from the Soul Forge and moved over to him. “Thor has spoken quite highly—”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki was quickly cut off when she slapped him across the face. “That was for New York,” she growled.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Jane!” Thor cried.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki worked his jaw; her blow had been much harder than it should have been. Loki found himself smiling though, “I like her,” he said to his brother.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Jane, please,” Thor said, ushering her back to the Forge. “There’s something within her father,” he said to Odin, “something I’ve not seen before.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Odin sighed, his frustration at his eldest barely contained. “Her world has its healers, they’re called doctors, let them deal with it.” He motioned to two nearby Einherjar, “Guards, take her back to Midgard.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>They approached the woman and Loki felt the energy from the Stones surge. “Wait,” he cried but it was too late. The moment the guards reached for Doctor Foster, a wave of energy shot out from her body, throwing the two Einherjar back. Her legs buckled and Thor caught her before she could fall to the ground.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Jane, are you alright?” Thor asked her. Doctor Foster blinked bleary eyes up at him and nodded.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“That’s impossible,” Odin breathed. He ran a hand over her arm, exposing the swirling red energy beneath her skin.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The infection,” Lady Eir said in amazement, “it’s defending her.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“No,” Thor replied, “it’s defending itself.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s not an infection,” Loki said. How Doctor Foster was even <em>alive</em> Loki did not know. What was inside of her should have killed her, until he realized <em>why</em> she was alive. “It’s using her as a host so it could break free of… wherever it was.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Svartalfheim,” Odin said, “the world of the Dark Elves.” He turned to Loki, “Do you still have the tome you took with you to Midgard?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Yes,” Loki replied, calling it forth.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Odin motioned to the healers who quickly swept from the room. He took the tome from Loki and laid it out upon the Soul Forge. Opening it, he flipped to the page which depicted slim figures with pale skin and solid black eyes. “Before the Nine Realms blossomed into what they would eventually become, the Dark Elves reigned absolute and unchallenged.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“‘Born of eternal night, the Dark Elves comes to steal away your light’,” Thor recited, sharing a look with Loki.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Mother used to tell us these stories when we were children,” Loki said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Their leader, Malekith, made a weapon out of that eternal night,” Odin explained, “it was called the Aether. Malekith planned on using the Aether’s power to return the universe to one of darkness but after eternities of bloodshed my father, Bor, finally triumphed, ushering in a peace that lasted thousands of years.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What happened?” asked Doctor Foster.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“He killed them all.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Are you certain?” asked Thor. “The Aether was said to have been destroyed with them and yet, here it is.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The Dark Elves are dead,” their father stated firmly.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Does your book happen to mention how to get it out of me?” Doctor Foster asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“No, it does not.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It couldn’t have been Malekith who created the Aether,” Loki said, “because the Aether is an Infinity Stone.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Both Thor and their father turned to look at him with wide eyes while Doctor Foster only looked confused. “What’s an Infinity Stone?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“An object of great power,” Odin said, “and one which mortal hands should not be capable of wielding.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“This is going to kill me,” Doctor Foster stated.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“We won’t let that happen Jane,” Thor said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She’s right though,” said Loki, “if the Aether is not removed from her, it <em>will</em> kill her.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Do you think you could remove it?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Me?” Loki asked at the same time Doctor Foster asked, “Him?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Loki has a… connection to the Stones,” Thor told her.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>That’s one way of putting it,</em> Loki thought drily. “I will try,” he said, “but there’s no way of knowing if it will even listen to me.” He held out a hand to Doctor Foster. She eyed him warily then looked up at Thor.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“My brother isn’t who you think he is,” Thor said gently. His blue eyes found Loki’s green. “New York… there were other factors at play.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What about Puente Antiguo?” Doctor Foster argued, “He killed you there.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki looked away, feeling his chest constrict as he remembered seeing Thor fly through the air to land with a sickening crunch as his mortal body broke. He hadn’t actually <em>meant</em> to kill Thor but it had happened anyway. It was one of many reason’s Loki had tried to end his own life. Even though Thor had been restored to his Godhood, Loki was afraid the evil in him would try to murder his brother again.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“That wasn’t entirely Loki’s fault either,” Thor said. “Loki was under terrible strain, it was an accident.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“An accident,” both he and Doctor Foster asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Do you really want to talk about this now?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Your brother is right,” Odin said, “it is a topic best discussed at another time and privately.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Alright, fine,” Doctor Foster said with a heavy sigh. She turned her gaze back to Loki. “If you can get this thing out of me without killing me that would be great.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I will do my best,” Loki replied. He again held his hand out to her and she reluctantly took it. Loki could feel the power of the Stone under her skin. <em>Come to me</em>, he called.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Doctor Foster’s veins began to glow as the power within her collected itself within her body. At his back, his constant companions made themselves known and they vibrated with glee as the forth part of itself returned. When Loki lifted his hand away from hers, tendrils of the Aether spread out from her palm to coalesce within Loki’s own. Wisps of the Aether surrounded them and Loki felt one of them caress his cheek. After what seemed like an eternity but could not have been more than a few minutes, the ever changing Aether returned to its form as a Stone. The red gem settled itself within the palm of Loki’s hand.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Oh wow,” Doctor Foster breathed once it was over.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>Reality,</em> the Stones told him.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s the Reality Stone,” Loki informed them.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Their father hummed in agreement. “It makes sense. Malekith planned on using the Aether to remake reality.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>The Reality Stone pulsed, <em>He awakens.</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki frowned at the Stone in his hand. <em>Who awakens?</em></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>The dark one who wished to use us to create eternal night.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>Malekith?</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>Yes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Oh that’s not good.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What’s wrong?” asked Thor.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The Stone told me Malekith has awoken.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor turned to their father. “I thought you said grandfather killed them all.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Odin sighed, “Apparently he lied.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Guess that’s where you get it from then,” Loki quipped.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>His father gave him a dry look. “I kept certain things from you for your own protection.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I’m sure if you asked Bor why he lied about the Aether and Dark Elves he would have said the same thing.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Loki, now is not the time.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“You’re right,” Loki said, “now isn’t the time.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“If the Dark Elves survived, they will see out the Aether.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s not really ‘The Aether’ anymore, is it?” asked Thor.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It may not be fluid, but it is still the Aether,” Loki said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>We were the lock which kept them asleep. So long as our Reality was contained, the Dark Ones slumbered.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Many Dark Elves survived according to the Stones.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Their numbers would not be as great as they once were,” Odin said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“How can you be so sure?” Thor asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Because Malekith slaughtered his own people in an attempt to in the war.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span><em>Listen</em>, Loki heard as the Time Stone maneuvered itself into his view. Loki’s eyes fluttered closed and he saw…</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>
    
    <em>An explosion rocking the palace from the dungeon. A creature of immense strength, twisted by an awesome power coursing through its veins stalks down the corridors. Outside, a tall ship descends upon the Realm Eternal. Her Master, a creature with skin a sickly grey and hair white as death, observes from the bridge before leaving to meet his companion within the palace walls. </em>
  </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>Loki saw his mother’s chambers where the Queen of Asgard defended Thor’s mortal love for she still held an echo of the Aether within her. A battle ensues and then—</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <em>
    <span>
      
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>Loki gasped, coming back to himself and stumbling back a few steps. “I need to take the Stone from here.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Both Thor and their father took hold of Loki to keep him from stumbling further. “Loki, no,” Thor said, “you can’t be thinking of running.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Loki regained his feet. “If I don’t take the Stone from Asgard, the Dark Elves will come and…” Though he knew it was only one possible future he was not about to take any chances, especially with his mother’s life. “If I don’t remove the Stone and Doctor Foster… Asgard will come under attack.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“What did you see?” Odin asked.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor frowned, “See?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“The Stone showed me what would happen if we left the Aether or Doctor Foster here,” Loki replied. “I must take the Stone from Asgard and you need to take Doctor Foster somewhere safe.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“She will be safe here,” Thor said. He gripped Loki’s arm, “and I thought you weren’t going to run anymore.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“I never said anything about running,” Loki said reassuringly. “Simply changing the venue.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Mother will die if they stay.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>Thor’s eyes widened at that.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Are you certain?” asked his father.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“It’s what they showed me.”</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
  <span>“Then we prepare a battleground far from here,” Odin said. “Once the Dark Elves are defeated and the Convergence has passed then they can both return. Until then Asgard shall prepare for war.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The stage prepares for the Dark Elves' attack.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh look, another fic that has run away from me. I really need to stop saying a fic is going to consist of X number of chapters only for it to go way beyond that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Five</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>            Loki paced his rooms, completing circuit after circuit with no pause. His brother had, unfortunately, been correct when he’d said Doctor Foster was safest in Asgard. Should she be returned to Midgard there was a chance the Dark Elves would attack that Realm in search of the Aether. Something nagged at Loki though. It was what was causing his incessant pacing; he just <em>knew</em> he was missing something.</p>
<p>            Night was slowly beginning to descend upon Asgard and Loki scrubbed a hand down his face. They had recovered two more Infinity Stones within the same day, bringing their collective total to four. There were still two more out there but at least they were several steps ahead of Thanos.</p>
<p>            A knock on his chamber door gave him brief pause. “Loki?” he heard his mother call.</p>
<p>            With a flick of his fingers, he released the spell holding his doors closed and heard the soft click as his mother entered his chambers. He was just turning to make another circuit about the room when she entered his vision. He did not pause his steps.</p>
<p>            She laughed fondly, “Are you attempting to wear a rut into your floor?”</p>
<p>            “Possibly.”</p>
<p>            She stepped into his path forcing him to stop. “You are worried over nothing.”</p>
<p>            “You don’t—”</p>
<p>            “Your father told me what the Stones showed you.” She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. “Do you so easily forget who taught you to fight?”</p>
<p>            “No,” he flashed her a cheeky smile, “all of my best moves I learned from you.” His smile faded. “Mother, what I saw… You fought valiantly against the creature but it defeated you in the end.” Loki bit his lip and lowered his eyes, “I’m not ready to let you go.”</p>
<p>            Her other hand came up, “We must all depart for Valhalla at some point dearheart.”</p>
<p>            “I know,” not that he would ever see Valhalla, “but if I can prevent it from happening now, I will.”</p>
<p>            She gave him a tender smile, “You cannot base your decisions upon what you saw to be one possible future. The future is not set in stone; many decisions can change the outcome. Even one tiny alteration can change the result and the more you try to prevent an unwanted future from happening, the likelier you are to bring it to pass.”</p>
<p>            “Then why would the Stone show me what it did if not to prevent your death?”</p>
<p>            His mother sighed, “That I cannot tell you. What I can tell you is, as a seer I have glimpsed many possible futures and I have told no one of what I have seen. I was warned as a young girl how dangerous telling such things can be.”</p>
<p>            It made Loki think of something. “Did you see my fall?”</p>
<p>            “No,” she admitted, “but if I had I know I would have struggled to keep from preventing it from happening had I had prior knowledge.”</p>
<p>            “What is the point of such a ‘gift’ from the Norns if not to prevent horrible fates?”</p>
<p>            “Why do the Norns choose to do anything?”</p>
<p>            She had a valid point. “I could not live with myself if I let you die knowing I could have prevented it,” he told her.</p>
<p>            “I know,” she replied, giving his hands a light squeeze, “but you need to know this, if you are given visions of various <em>possible</em> futures with new futures shown every time you do prevent something, you’ll drive yourself mad. It is not your responsibility to prevent horrible fates.”</p>
<p>            “I don’t want to save everyone, just you.”</p>
<p>            “I will be on my guard and should the Dark Elves attack I will not be taken down easily.”</p>
<p>            Loki knew attempting to argue with her further would be futile. She had never once told anyone of her visions and her advice was sound however it didn’t mean he had to like it.</p>
<p>            “I wish there was some place to take Doctor Foster,” <em>and you</em>, he added internally, “she still caries traces of the Aether in her. I’m afraid it will be enough for the Dark Elves to track.”</p>
<p>            “If that is the case, then should you find such a place you should go with her.”</p>
<p>            “You’re joking.”</p>
<p>            “Not at all,” she replied calmly. “You carry the Stone itself with you—”</p>
<p>            Loki’s blood ran cold. He hadn’t thought about that. He would <em>have</em> to leave Asgard in order to assure the Realm’s safety. He cursed himself for not realizing it earlier. First he set the sights of the Titan upon the Realm Eternal and now the Dark Elves. He truly was a magnet for destruction. Where could he go though? Where within the Nine could he go and that would keep everyone safe?</p>
<p>            The answer made him dizzy, there wasn’t anywhere <em>within </em>the Nine. He would have to leave the safety of Yggdrasil’s branches.</p>
<p>            “…ki …oki …Loki?”</p>
<p>            Loki came back to himself and saw his mother looking at him in concern. He’d completely tuned out what she had been saying before. How long had she been calling his name?</p>
<p>            “Loki, whatever you are thinking, you can stop. I was by no means implying you need to leave Asgard and I was <em>especially</em> not implying you would be alone.”</p>
<p>            She’s right, he wouldn’t be alone. He would be responsible for protecting Thor’s mortal. If anything were to happen to Doctor Foster, his brother would never forgive him.</p>
<p>             Loki cast his gaze out to where the fading sunlight glistened off the nearby towers. Loki had been led to believe he no longer had a home, that he hated Asgard and everyone who lived within. He silently cursed Thanos and the Black Order for twisting his memories so. Yes, things had soured between him and the Realm Eternal but the thought of such destruction coming to Asgard sickened him. He was still a Prince of Asgard and he was not about to forswear his duty to protect her or her people.</p>
<p>            The question remained, if he were to leave Asgard (and he knew he would have to, there really was no other alternative) where could he go?</p>
<p>            “Do not make any hasty decisions tonight,” his mother said, breaking into his thoughts. “Let us <em>all</em> discuss our options in the morning. For tonight, try to get some rest.”</p>
<p>            Loki wasn’t sure he would be able to sleep that night due to the anxiety he felt but he knew her to be correct about that also. Hasty decision making was what had led to the events of the year prior. He would forever be making up for it. “All right,” he conceded and forced himself to take a seat on the lounge.</p>
<p>            She leaned down to press a kiss to the crown of his head. “<em>Try</em> not to stay up fretting tonight. I’m not above remaining with you until you do fall asleep.”</p>
<p>            “The sun has not yet set,” Loki argued. He was not a child who needed to be put to bed early.</p>
<p>            His mother laughed. “All the more reason to relax and enjoy it.”</p>
<p>            Loki looked back out through the window. The view was quite beautiful, though it would be better from the balcony of his and Thor’s common area. He stood and held out a hand to his mother, “Care to join me watch the sunset?”</p>
<p>            “I would love to,” she replied, hooking her arm though his, “then afterwards it’s off to bed with you.”</p>
<p>            Loki made a show of rolling his eyes, “Not a child.”</p>
<p>            “It doesn’t matter how old you become, you will <em>always</em> be my child.”</p>
<p>            Loki felt himself relax at her claim. A dark part of his thoughts continued to believe his family would eventually decide he was no longer worthy of being a part of it. Loki argued with that dark part of himself constantly because he refused to let it win. He refused to acknowledge the twisted feelings implanted by the Black Order and he was thankful he was able to differentiate between his own feelings and those forced upon him by the corrupted Mind Stone. The Stone itself was of great help in that area as well since whenever those twisted memories emerged, it showed him the truth and while he was not fond of it telling him what others were thinking and feeling, it went a long way in rebuilding his trust in those around him.</p>
<p>            The nagging feeling he’d had all day eased somewhat. It was still there but no longer the sole focus of his attention. He and his mother enjoyed the sunset and were eventually joined by Thor and Doctor Foster. Loki refused to let the Doctor’s unease around him bother him and he appreciated Thor’s attempt to keep the awkwardness at bay. Once the sun had set they went their separate ways and Loki was grateful when he sunk into his bed. He continued to feel as though he was missing something important but for the life of him could not determine what it was.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>            The next few days were uneventful in Loki’s opinion. He, Thor and Doctor Foster returned to Midgard, though not without a bit of protest from Loki. He met with Stark and the rest of the Avengers while Thor took Doctor Foster to her London home. Loki suspected it would be some time before he saw his brother again.</p>
<p>            He spent the day with Stark and Doctor Banner while the two analyzed the various energies given off by the four different Stones. He would occasionally hear the Stones’ twinkling laughter when the two scientists became excited by the data they collected. <em>They are like excited children</em>, the Stones said.</p>
<p>            <em>Or excitable puppies,</em> Loki replied.</p>
<p>            Again, the Stones laughed and Loki found himself fighting to keep his own smile at bay. Stark and Banner were having a bit too much fun although Loki couldn’t blame them. Loki was prone to excitement when he made a new magical discovery or perfected a new spell; however, unlike the two Midgardian’s before him, Loki had never really had anyone to share his discoveries with who gave any sort of interest in his likes. It had seemed as though only his mother encouraged him although Loki was still trying to figure out if that was how things had really been or if it was his perception of things after having had his memories twisted. He could easily have those questions answered but Loki didn’t want to become dependent on the Stones for all of his answers.</p>
<p>            The nagging feelings Loki had felt upon the revelation of the Dark Elves’ revival had never completely gone away though he still could not figure out what it was he was <em>missing</em>. It was slowly driving him mad.</p>
<p>            “See this here,” Stark said, drawing Loki’s attention back to the present, “all four of them share this portion of their individual energy signature.” Stark manipulated one of his holograms to enlarge a digital representation of the Stones’ energy. “It’s small which is why we would never have noticed it with just two of the Stones. They don’t give off this portion of the signal at the same time.”</p>
<p>            It hit Loki suddenly, “The Dark Elves have technology sensitive enough to trace the Aether’s energy from great distances no matter how minimal the signal is.”</p>
<p>            “Seriously?” Stark asked.</p>
<p>            “It makes sense,” Banner said, pushing his glasses up so they sat properly on his nose. To Loki he said, “You did say it was only the Aether being trapped that kept the Dark Elves in a sort of stasis. The Aether’s container must have been giving off a sort of keep-alive signal. Once that stopped they woke up.”</p>
<p>            “If they have technology calibrated at such a sensitivity so as to locate the traces of the Aether in Doctor Foster then, if we could get our hands on it, we might be able to use that to pinpoint the location of the last two Stones,” Stark said, “especially if we search for this distinct energy pattern.”</p>
<p>            “Doctor Foster and I cannot remain on Midgard for much longer,” Loki said. “The Dark Elves will hunt the Aether and, if the stories are true, will do anything to obtain it. I don’t want to risk either Midgard or Asgard facing their wrath.”</p>
<p>            “You’re not planning on doing anything by yourself are you?” Banner asked.</p>
<p>            The concern in his voice and in both his and Stark’s gazes warmed Loki. These people, who had once been his enemies, were now truly his <em>friends</em>. He had family and friends to support him, people who worried and cared for him, something Loki would not have thought possible at one time. Loki was not alone as he had been led to believe.</p>
<p>            “No,” Loki replied, “however I can’t risk them coming here. My invasion failed because I <em>wanted</em> it to fail, should the Dark Elves arrive you may not be so lucky.”</p>
<p>            “Given last time SHIELD sent a nuke to try stopping you… Yeah, I don’t want to repeat that either,” Stark said. “Where will you go though?”</p>
<p>            “Svartalfheim, home of the Dark Elves. After the war Bor and Malekith left it nothing more than a barren wasteland. No chance of unnecessary casualties there.”</p>
<p>            “You are absolutely certain they’re going to come?”</p>
<p>            “The Stones said what remained of them had awoken. Given what is written of Malekith’s desire, it makes sense he would track the Aether.”</p>
<p>            “What about the person who sent you here, Thanos?” Banner asked.</p>
<p>            Loki was surprised that he managed to keep his shudder at the Titan’s name at bay. “I don’t doubt he’ll come for the Stones as well but he will bide his time. However with them coming together as they are, whatever timeline he is on may have changed. There is honestly no telling when he will come for the Stones.”</p>
<p>            “Let’s jump off that bridge when we get to it, alright?” Stark said. “One problem at a time.” He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “Seriously Merlin, is there <em>anything</em> we can do to help?”</p>
<p>            “I appreciate the offer but unless you want to go to another Realm—”       </p>
<p>            “I’m game!”</p>
<p>            Banner let out a snort at Stark’s excited interruption. “You just want to ride the Bifröst again.”</p>
<p>            “Hell yeah I do and this time I’ll bring something to record the trip with. There’s no way travel is instantaneous and then, hello, <em>another</em> world. <em>How</em> could I pass up that?”</p>
<p>            “Bifröst travel isn’t instantaneous,” Loki said, “although depending on the duration it can seem that way.”</p>
<p>            “I would still love to know how that works but I’m willing to put it on the back burner for a chance to look at ‘Dark Elf” technology. Plus, there’s still so much <em>Asgardian</em> technology I need to tinker with. That ‘Soul Forge’ thing you told us about could advance our medical technology drastically.”</p>
<p>            “I will admit to being interested in the Soul Forge,” Banner said.</p>
<p>            “See, this is why we need to go.”<br/>            “You may be able to provide a unique perspective,” Loki said. “The Dark Elves are accustomed to Asgard’s battle tactics and they would have no knowledge of how Midgard has changed in the last five thousand years.”</p>
<p>            “I’ll never get used to how you guys age.”</p>
<p>            “We age the same as you do, simply a little slower.”</p>
<p>            “Are you kidding? By the time I’m dust you’ll have barely aged a day.”</p>
<p>            That stopped Loki short and he thought he may have understood his father’s reaction to Thor’s budding relationship with Doctor Foster. It was rare for mortals to live past a century and these, who Loki had come to acknowledge as his friends, would not be around forever. He was already taking for granted how much time he would have with them. He mentally shook himself; it would do him no good to dwell upon such thoughts. He would just have to take what he was given and enjoy it.</p>
<p>            “What’s wrong?” asked Banner.</p>
<p>            “Nothing,” Loki replied.</p>
<p>            “Are you sure, you’ve…” Banner crossed his arms, “You’ve got this look.”</p>
<p>            “I suppose I’d never really thought about the differences between my lifespan and yours.” Which brought another question to mind, did the Jötnar live as long as the Æsir? They must, considering Laufey and his father were roughly the same age, or so he thought. <em>One thing at a time</em>, he reminded himself.</p>
<p>            He suspected neither Banner nor Stark believed him but they thankfully let the subject drop. They returned to studying the Stones’ energy with Loki reluctantly trying to call upon their power. He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was by how easily he could wield them and doing so felt natural. They were a part of him; they always had been even though he hadn’t even known they were missing.</p>
<p>            “Doctor Foster and I have been going over the data she collected outside of the warehouse in London,” Stark said. “This Convergence that’s starting to happen, it’s cosmic, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>            “Yes,” Loki affirmed, “when fully involved, the Nine Realms will be in perfect alignment. The barriers between the Realms will be non-existent in some places.”</p>
<p>            “Would we be able to see this from anywhere in the world?” asked Banner.</p>
<p>            Loki thought about it. “Maybe but the best vantage point to view the entirety of the Convergence would be…” His heart suddenly beat wildly in his chest. Softly he finished, “from the Bifröst.” He knew the other two had been told of his fall from the broken bridge which had triggered the events leading up to everything being as it was now.</p>
<p>            “If Asgard is the best place, it would be a good excuse for Thor to use to bring Doctor Foster back,” Stark said.</p>
<p>            “The whole point of leaving Asgard was to prevent an attack,” Loki pointed out.</p>
<p>            “You also said these Dark Elves could trace the residual energy left behind by the Aether,” Banner said.</p>
<p>            “We’ve already offered to help you,” Stark added. “Let us.”</p>
<p>            “You just want to go back to Asgard.”</p>
<p>            “Okay,” Stark shrugged, “guilty, I’m not about to deny it. Look, we can go around in circles discussing this or,” he threw an arm around both Loki and Banner, “you can both just admit defeat and say we’re <em>all</em> going back.”</p>
<p>            “Stark—” Loki tried.</p>
<p>            Stark removed the arm around Banner’s shoulders and pressed a finger against Loki’s lips. “Hush Lo-Lo, don’t fight it.”</p>
<p>            Loki cocked an eyebrow. <em>Lo-Lo? </em>he thought. The only person who had ever called him anything close to that was Thor and that had been when they were children. “You’re going to pester me until I say yes, aren’t you?”</p>
<p>            Stark shot him a cheeky grin, “So it is a ‘yes’, right.”</p>
<p>            As deadpan as he could, Loki replied, “No.”</p>
<p>            Stark’s eyes widened comically and Banner let out something that might have been laughter. “What?” gasped Stark as an absolutely pathetic expression formed on his face. “You’re going to leave me, your new best friend, here to suffer?”</p>
<p>            “I thought I was your new best friend,” Banner said.</p>
<p>            “Well, you are but Merlin is my new, <em>new</em> best friend.”</p>
<p>            “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”</p>
<p>            When Banner looked to him Loki said, “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t ever really had friends before.”</p>
<p>            And didn’t <em>that</em> statement earn him equal looks of sympathy and kicked puppy. Dear Norns, it was a good thing his brother was on the other side of Midgard and not here to witness this. Speaking of witnesses… Loki tipped his head up. “You speak one word of this and I’ll cut out your tongue.”</p>
<p>            Loki <em>swore</em> he could hear laughter and it wasn’t coming from the Stones. “The Convergence won’t be in its full totality for another week or so. If you really plan on coming to Asgard, you should probably go pack.” Loki shared an amused look with Banner when Stark practically flew from the lab.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>            Loki contacted his brother to let him know they would be returning to Asgard soon and promptly hung up after only a moment. While the sounds he’d heard on the other end could have been innocent enough he couldn’t help but wish he’d never heard them. He was glad he had decided against teleporting to Doctor Foster’s home because if they were doing what he suspected they were doing things would have been… awkward.</p>
<p>            Stark had somehow managed to convince Rogers, Romanoff and Barton to join them for their return to Asgard as well. Currently they all sat around the feasting table, their parents at the head and Loki torn between being sick or teasing Thor mercilessly for the lovey-dovey eyes he and Doctor Foster were constantly giving one another. If Thor believed they were being discreet, he was delusional.</p>
<p>            Loki looked up to his parents and was <em>extremely</em> grateful his father’s eye was not currently on him. The Midgardian phrase, “if looks could kill,” aptly applied here. Odin may only have one eye but it was most definitely Thor who was blind.</p>
<p>            Frigga leaned over and spoke something softly to her husband. Their father’s expression became one of resignation. Whatever his mother had said had at least taken some of the anger out of his father’s gaze.</p>
<p>            When Doctor Foster turned to converse with Stark and Banner, Thor’s wistful gaze as he watched her had Loki rolling his eyes and kicking his brother under the table. Thor winced and shot Loki a look. “What was that for?” he hissed.</p>
<p>            “Father is about to murder you,” Loki replied evenly as he took another bite of his meal.</p>
<p>            “No he…” Thor broke off when he looked over to their parents. Loki was not the least bit surprised to see the murderous expression had returned to Odin’s face. Their mother, however, was clearly enjoying this just as much as Loki was. Thor narrowed his eyes at Loki, “You are terrible.” Loki only smiled.</p>
<p>            The nagging feeling from the previous days returned full force when Loki saw one of the Einherjar approach their father and tell him something too softly for the others to hear. The exchange had not gone unnoticed by the others and the various conversations ceased.</p>
<p>            Loki exchanged a quick look with his brother. Frigga had obviously been privy to what Odin was told however neither she nor her husband gave any outward expression that something was amiss. They knew their parents well enough to know <em>something </em>was wrong though. Odin stood and swept from the room with their mother following close behind. After exchanging another quick glance, Loki and Thor went to follow them.</p>
<p>            “What’s wrong?” asked Captain Rogers.</p>
<p>            “It might be nothing,” replied Thor.</p>
<p>            Neither Loki nor anyone else remaining in the room believed him, especially when their mother returned long enough to say, “Thor, Loki come.”</p>
<p>            “We’ll let you know once we find out,” Loki said as he and his brother followed after their parents. They all walked along in silence until they came to a large meeting room. Inside were gathered many of Odin’s councilors along with General Tyr.</p>
<p>            To their even greater surprise, among those gathered was their aunt; Queen Gerðr. She was as regal as ever, with her pale skin, strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wore her armor outlined in silver and gold with hints of the same Vanir blue their mother wore woven in. “Sister, brother,” Gerðr said, “thank you for meeting with me.”</p>
<p>            “What has happened?” asked Frigga. “Where is Freyr?”</p>
<p>            “My husband is on the battlefront. Vanaheim has been attacked.”</p>
<p>            “By whom?” Odin asked.</p>
<p>            Their aunt sighed, “Marauders.”</p>
<p>            Odin, Frigga and Thor’s expressions all darkened. Loki knew there was information he was missing. The Marauders were nothing more than a rag-tag band of pirates, more scavengers than anything, who occasionally attacked trading posts although they tended to stay away from the larger, more powerful Realms. Even Vanaheim’s smallest village should have been safe.</p>
<p>            “Of course we will help however we can,” Frigga said.</p>
<p>            “Thank you.” Gerðr’s gaze found Loki and she moved to stand before him. “Your uncle and I were most glad to hear of your return home and of your speedy recovery. Once Vanaheim is safe, you and I must catch up.”</p>
<p>            Loki and Thor had both enjoyed the company of their aunt and uncle. “I would be glad to,” Loki replied.</p>
<p>            Gerðr smiled and for a brief moment, her blue eyes turned ruby red. “Yes, we have much to talk about.”</p>
<p>            Shock flooded Loki, aunt Gerðr couldn’t possibly be… He glanced over at his parents, his father was speaking to General Tyr but the small nod from his mother confirmed his suspicions. Their aunt was such a wonderful woman and to learn she came from… Maybe there was hope for Loki after all.</p>
<p>             “Thor,” Odin said, drawing Loki’s attention back to the present, “gather your warriors. You make for Vanaheim at first light.”</p>
<p>            Thor saluted their father then went to carry out his order. For a brief moment, Loki felt a flash of resentment that their father hadn’t thought him capable enough to help but he knew that wasn’t really the case. Odin continued before Loki’s doubts could really begin to grow. “Loki, I want you to examine the palace’s defense system. While we must help Vanaheim dispatch the Marauders we must also prepare for the Dark Elves. We do not know when or from where they will attack and we must be ready.”</p>
<p>            “Yes father,” Loki replied. A warmth spread through him to know his father trusted him with such a responsibility.</p>
<p>            “Anyone you require will be at your disposal.”</p>
<p>            The person Loki needed most in this was his brother but Thor had his own responsibilities to take care of. He would have to build his plan around the potential that Asgard would not have her greatest defender. The thought did not sit well with Loki for who among the warriors would listen to any orders given from <em>Loki</em>. He may be a prince but he was not seen as a true warrior due to his fighting style.</p>
<p>            “They will listen to you,” his father said softly.</p>
<p>            While Loki had his doubts, he did not have the luxury of allowing those doubts to fester. He had work to do. Leaving his parents to hash out the details of freeing Vanaheim, Loki returned to the dining hall where they had left the Midgardians. They had already finished their meal by the time he arrived and there was no mistaking their curiosity at what was going on.</p>
<p>            “Vanaheim, the Realm of our mother’s birth, is under attack,” Loki said without preamble. “Our father has sent Thor to lead a regiment to repel the invaders.”</p>
<p>            “You aren’t going,” Romanoff pointed out.</p>
<p>            Loki felt the sting of that statement for only a moment before he pushed it aside. “No, my father wants me to reinforce Asgard’s defenses, especially around the palace and surrounding city. I think your perspectives could be an advantage to us.”</p>
<p>            “How so?” Rogers asked.</p>
<p>            “As far as the Dark Elves are concerned, Midgard is still in the Stone Age.”</p>
<p>            “They won’t have any ideas of our tactics,” Stark said, “and you guys are so long lived there might not be too much of a difference between your military tactics now compared to when your two armies last faced off.”</p>
<p>            “Hence the advantage.”</p>
<p>            “What would we be up against?” Rogers asked.</p>
<p>            “I need to do some research on that myself. I know of the stories our mother told us when we were children but I need to see the original battle records. It will be tedious but while I do that there’s something I would like to show you. I think you three,” he motioned to Stark, Banner and Doctor Foster, “will enjoy this.”</p>
<p>            He led them from the dining hall through the palace, down several winding corridors into what seemed to be the very bowels of the palace. The Einherjar standing guard before a set of double doors came to attention as they approached. The doors opened at Loki’s presence revealing a pedestal similar to the one within the Observatory. The walls were adorned with intricate golden circles that, upon close inspection, had runes carved into the gold and the top of the domed structure let in light from the morning sun.</p>
<p>            “This looks like the Bifröst Observatory,” Doctor Foster commented.</p>
<p>            “Similar in design but its function is completely different.”</p>
<p>            “I’ll bite, what’s its function?” asked Stark.</p>
<p>            “This is a generator,” Loki replied.</p>
<p>            Banner looked around. “A generator?” His eyes continued to rove the space. “The <em>room</em> is a generator?”</p>
<p>            “It is. When activated it creates a force shield which encompasses the palace and surrounding courtyards.”</p>
<p>            Stark’s eyes lit up, “Seriously?”</p>
<p>            “What is the power source?” Doctor Foster asked, curiosity clearly piqued.</p>
<p>            Loki strode leisurely around the space and everyplace he stepped, the floor shimmered. Even the walls reacted to his presence. “The generator obtains its initial power from seiðr.”</p>
<p>            “That’s what you call your magic, isn’t it?” Banner asked.</p>
<p>            Doctor Foster scoffed. “Magic doesn’t exist.”</p>
<p>            “Not by your understanding, it doesn’t,” Loki conceded. “Magic in the sense of ‘Abracadabra’ and pulling a rabbit out of a hat, no that is only slight of hand. Real magic, the manipulation of seiðr is completely different.” Loki held out his hands as though cupping something. A ball of his magic formed above his palms. “Seiðr is a type of energy, one that only a few are truly able to tap into and manipulate. To become a Seiðrmar, or Sorcerer, takes <em>years</em> of study and practice.”</p>
<p>            “Your ‘magic’ is an energy,” Doctor Foster said, “which means I should be able to calibrate my machines to study it and manipulate it too.”</p>
<p>            Loki shook his head, letting the witch light disappear. “Your machines may be able to detect seiðr but no machine can manipulate it. My seiðr is in my very blood.”</p>
<p>            “Like Midichlorians,” Stark said.</p>
<p>            Barton and Banner groaned, Rogers appeared confused and Romanoff shook her head. “I doubt he understands the reference,” Banner said.</p>
<p>            “<em>I</em> don’t understand the reference,” Rogers added.</p>
<p>            Loki considered it. “It is a decent analogy.” He received several looks of surprise and he inwardly laughed. “I suppose likening seiðr to the Force will help in the future to explain it.”</p>
<p>            Barton gave Stark a dry look. “You are a terrible influence.”</p>
<p>            “Me?” Stark cried. “Why are you blaming me?”</p>
<p>            “Because you’re the one always spouting pop-culture references,” Banner replied.</p>
<p>            “You can’t blame my knowledge of <em>Star Wars</em> on Stark,” Loki said. “I went to see <em>Star Wars</em> on my own back in ’77.” At their blank stares, he reminded them, “I’m over one thousand years old.”</p>
<p>            “Now there’s an interesting concept. Space Vikings watching <em>Star Wars</em>,” quipped Stark. He narrowed his eyes at Loki. “What other references do you know?”</p>
<p>            “Too many to discuss right now. The reason I brought you here is because I want to try to augment the power output so the shield can encompass as much of the city as possible.”</p>
<p>            The three scientists looked excited and up for the challenge. Stark cracked his knuckles, “Where do we start?”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>            It had been far too long since Thor had engaged in rigorous battle and far longer still since he had fought hand and hand with his old friends. They bantered back and forth as easily as they ever had. Thor’s only regret was Loki was not with them. He hadn’t realized just how much he missed his brother adventuring and fighting alongside them.</p>
<p>            Thor watched as what remained of the Marauders were gathered for transport back to Asgard’s dungeons. The battle had been long and fierce but Hogun’s village was safe however there were still more areas of Vanaheim under siege. Thor wanted things cleared up quickly so that he could return to Asgard as well. They had been battling for days and Thor was honestly glad to be done with the fighting. He turned at his friends approach.</p>
<p>            “Where do we go next?” Hogun asked.</p>
<p>            “You should remain here,” Thor told his friend, “help your village rebuild.”</p>
<p>            “There are still more villages which need our help,” Sif said.</p>
<p>            “My uncle’s forces will take care of them. Hogun’s village was the last which needed reinforcements.”</p>
<p>            “What will you do?” asked Fandral.</p>
<p>            “I will return to Asgard with the prisoners. I want to see how things are faring.” His brother had told him their father wanted him to examine the palace defenses and that Loki was engaging the Midgardians’ help. He was curious to see what they had come up with.</p>
<p>            “I do not wish to question the All-Father but is it wise to have Loki be the one in charge of the palace’s defenses?” asked Sif.</p>
<p>            “Loki is a brilliant strategist.”</p>
<p>            “He was also the one to let our enemies slip inside. Thor, I know you think of him as your brother—”</p>
<p>            This was not an argument Thor wanted to have. “Loki <em>is</em> my brother and nothing will ever change that and my father’s choice makes the most sense. If Loki knows where weaknesses in our defenses lie then he would be the best choice in strengthening those points.”</p>
<p>            “Or he could weaken them further.”</p>
<p>            “I know you and Loki have had your differences over the years, Sif, but you can’t always think the worst of Loki based upon what happened last year. <em>That</em> was not Loki.”</p>
<p>            Sif blew out a breath. “He betrayed you before.”</p>
<p>            “I can’t say I blame him,” Thor replied, much to their surprise. “I wronged him greatly and… Loki betrayed no one. Everything he did as King was legal.”</p>
<p>            “Including allowing the Jötunn into Asgard?”</p>
<p>            “I’ll admit, Loki was wrong in ruining my coronation the way he did but he was right to do so. I wasn’t ready to be king.” <em>I’m unsure I even wish to be king any longer. Loki might be better suited for the role.</em> “In any event, I didn’t make matters any better by starting a war with Jötunheim over a childish insult.”</p>
<p>            From his friends’ expressions, they had not expected for him to admit such a thing. “We have bigger things to worry about right now. We know the Dark Elves will come even if we don’t know when. I won’t leave Loki to face them alone.”</p>
<p>            “You are too trusting and too forgiving,” Sif sighed.</p>
<p>            “And you do not have enough understanding of events,” Thor replied. “Maybe if you knew the whole story you might think differently of my brother. I trust Loki with my life and I’ll not forsake him over a few mistakes and circumstances which were out of his control. I forgive him for what happened and I hope someday you can as well.” <em>Just as I hope he can someday forgive himself.</em></p>
<p>            He gripped Hogun’s shoulder then made for where the prisoners were gathered. Over the course of the next several hours they were gathered up and sent to Asgard. Once the final prisoner had been entered the Bifröst it was Thor’s turn. He was grateful when the rainbow light swept him away from Vanaheim and back to the Golden Realm.</p>
<p>            By the time Thor returned to the palace and confirmed the prisoners had been processed night had settled upon Asgard. When he returned to the royal apartments, he was surprised to find none of his family or any of his new friends in residence. He needed to deliver his report of the events on Vanaheim to his father and he couldn’t do that until he located the man. After inquiring as to the All-Father’s whereabouts, he discovered his family and companions to be in the control room for the palace force shield.</p>
<p>            His parents stood in the doorway and Thor could make out voices of varying excitement coming from inside. His father turned at his approach, “What news?”</p>
<p>            “Vanaheim is safe,” Thor reported.</p>
<p>            “Good and the Marauders?”</p>
<p>            “Those who survived are now locked in the dungeons awaiting sentencing.” His father nodded and Thor frowned in confusion at what he continued to hear. “What is happening in there?”</p>
<p>            “See for yourself,” his mother said, stepping aside.</p>
<p>            Thor looked into the room and his eyes widened in shock. Loki sat on the floor swathed in his seiðr. Portions of the floor had been removed and he saw Stark and Lady Jane’s heads appearing and disappearing from where they stood within one of the openings. Banner lay on his stomach gesturing to whatever it was he saw within. Rogers, Barton and Romanoff watched the, controlled, chaos with their own levels of amusement and confusion.</p>
<p>            “—this relay here—”</p>
<p>            “—if I trace this line—”</p>
<p>            Banner reached over to tap at something upon a Midgardian device Thor recalled seeing before, a computer if he remembered correctly. When had they had time to retrieve that?</p>
<p>            “No, not that one. Try another,” Banner said as he read something on the screen.</p>
<p>            There was more commotion from beneath the flooring before Stark popped up, pointed to Loki and said, “Do that again Merlin,” then disappeared from Thor’s sight once more.</p>
<p>            “What are they doing?” Thor asked.</p>
<p>            “Augmenting the shield mechanism with Stark’s ARC reactor,” his mother replied.</p>
<p>            Loki placed a hand on the floor and Thor watched as the entire room shimmered from the power of his seiðr. Whatever Loki did caused the three scientists to practically explode with excitement. After helping Lady Jane from the floor, Stark hopped out also. He wiped his hands on his pants. “That’s amazing. Honestly, I never would have thought to find technology like this. It’s a mechanic’s wet dream.”</p>
<p>            They began speaking in a language Thor did not understand at all. Loki spoke the language though and the answers he gave to the Midgardian’s questions only enhanced their excitement. Loki was truly in his element as he answered all of their questions. Once again Thor cursed himself for the times Loki had tried to explain seiðr to Thor only for Thor to cast his interests aside. Loki was brilliant and the most powerful mage Thor knew, possibly the most powerful mage in all of the Nine. <em>No,</em> Thor thought, <em>Loki </em>is<em> the most powerful mage in the Nine.</em></p>
<p>            “They have been working on this since you left,” Odin explained.</p>
<p>            “The Midgardian’s have been quite engrossed in everything your brother showed them,” Frigga added.</p>
<p>            “You brother has also been instructing the Einherjar and other warriors of the best places to strengthen our defenses both around the palace and in the city.” Odin frowned slightly, “I had not realized just how lax we had become.”</p>
<p>            Once the room had been put back into order they finally retired for the night. Thor took the time to find his brother to see how he was fairing. Loki had changed into his night clothes with a robe wrapped around his shoulders. He looked exhausted but happy. “You’ve had fun,” Thor commented as he lay beside his brother.</p>
<p>            “I have,” Loki agreed. “How about you? Did you enjoy your battle on Vanaheim?”</p>
<p>            Thor thought about it. “Not as much as I thought I would. I wished you were there. I miss fighting with you by my side.”</p>
<p>            Loki rolled onto his side. “If I’m being honest, I miss fighting at your side too.”</p>
<p>            “We do make a formidable team.”</p>
<p>            “I’m sure your friends enjoyed your presence.”</p>
<p>            “It wasn’t the same,” Thor admitted. “If I could choose only one person to fight at my side for the rest of eternity, it would be you.” Loki wouldn’t have admitted it but Thor could tell his statement pleased his brother. The poorly repressed smile was a dead giveaway.</p>
<p>            They conversed for a short time, both becoming more and more fatigued as they spoke. “Are you planning on staying in here tonight?” Loki asked groggily.</p>
<p>            Thor hummed an affirmative. He was too tired to bother making his way to his own rooms. He doubted Loki would mind, there had been many times throughout the years where one brother would find himself sleeping in the others room simply because they had no desire to make the trip back to their own.</p>
<p>            All in all, Thor was glad he’d remained in Loki’s room because he’d known instantly Loki was safe when the explosion beneath the palace woke them all in the middle of the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry, not sorry for the Star Wars reference.</p>
<p>Until next time...</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I read on one of the Wiki pages I believe, that apparently Loki had somehow activated the Tesseeract from Sanctuary and that’s what caused the portal to form at the beginning of the Avengers. To me, that makes <i>absolutely</i> no sense. While I understand Loki has magic, to have the Infinity Stones’s power so easily accessible would have made Thanos’s search for them almost moot. Couldn’t he have just forced a mage (or several) to activate their power to do whatever he wanted? Plus, <i>how</i> could Loki have activated the Tesseract from the other side of the galaxy?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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